Just recently the local shopping center “Loblaws” has put a 5 cent fee on each grocery bag you take home. Now I’m all for Green solutions to everyday problems but this seems a little above and beyond the call of duty.
Many shopping centers have had this fee for a long time and I have expected this since their prices were lower than Loblaws significantly. Some even offer cardboard boxes to take your groceries home in which I think is a good way of recycling in itself. Reusable bags are a great idea that I have been using for a while now and I’m glad that Loblaws has decided to implement them.
However, Green solution beliefs aside I must say that this is kind of a pain in the ass when it comes to our grocery bills. Loblaws is the most expensive grocery store I shop at and it seems rather greedy for them to increase their profits by charging probably 5 times what those bags are worth and at the same time making money by selling reusable bags in their place. One thing I heard was that in Florida some grocery stores actually pay you for bringing in your own bags. That would be neat if they could do that here (the idea got shot down here in favor of the 5 cent fee for plastic bags). Just a thought.
Don’t get me wrong, I think this is a good deterrent to people just wasting as many of these bags as they wish but I have to say it’s poor timing. With the current economic situation it’s sounds like just another way to stay in business at our expense. But once again it’s good for the environment so what can we do. Well you don’t have to buy these new bags, you can bring any old bag from home you wish I suppose or just the last plastic ones you got from the super market.
With all things considered reusable bags are better for the environment and promote better household waste management in a way. I’m not so sure I want to shop at some of these places anymore when I know they were already making a killing before charging for plastic bags and reusable ones. I’ll just limit my shopping there more now I think. Good or Bad we have to live it.
It is a great idea to use paper bags instead of plastic bags. It is an environment friendly deal and worth not so much. Paper bags can also be recycled and used in different ways.
“With all things considered reusable bags are better for the environment and promote better household waste management in a way”. i like it.