The 'Shocking' Plastic Bag Charge

Mezcita

theblaqueguy wrote: »

All you suckers buying plastic bags!
I just get my wife to balance the weekly shopping on her head!
We shouldn't be giving this government anymore money!
Were already taxed up to our eyeballs
With the property tax and now water charges!

Nice poem.

c_man

I remember once while working in an offy, a miserable old git buying a heap of cans and some bottles of wine.

Me: D'wanna bag?
Him: Will you charge me for it?
Me: Well yeah, it's the law.
Him: **** yourself so.

He craddles the lot, waddles out the door awkardly and starts on his way up the road to his merc. Half way up, his loses his grip and the lot go. Broken bottles and hissing cans. Arsehole.

Aglomerado

c_man wrote: »

He craddles the lot, waddles out the door awkardly and starts on his way up the road to his merc. Half way up, his loses his grip and the lot go. Broken bottles and hissing cans. Arsehole.

I love the smell of schadenfreude in the morning.

poundapunnet

I don't know if it's a peculiarly Irish thing or what that we seem to be able to be fairly stoic and have a sense of humour about things like not being able to pay bills or somebody dying, and then take the rain and plastic bag charges as some kind of outrageous personal attack.

Ghost Buster

FearDark wrote: »

No thats illegal. The 22c goes into government coffers...or now probably to Angela Merkel.

But you are not forced to buy the bag. Its optional.

OldNotWIse

It is really annoying when places (the same places all the time) "only have the 70c ones"

Ghost Buster

Kondo69 wrote: »

Anyone who works in a shop must regularly hear the disbelief from people who get told that there is a levy on plastic bags, which came into force on March 4th, 2002. The casual manner in which they wait until the transaction is put through and then, an auld bag there if ye have one... ''What?! Ye're charging for bags?!''

Culchies and auld ones are the main offenders...

Anyone else suffering these creatures?

Because the bag levy is only in Dublin?

IngazZagni

I live in England quite a lot at the moment and when I'm at the shop I regularly forget I can take a plastic bag for free. It's great. So much less hassle. I haven't noticed any more litter regarding plastic bags there than I do here now.

Timeless12

OldNotWIse wrote: »

It is really annoying when places (the same places all the time) "only have the 70c ones"

Next time just leave your stuff there and go somewhere else.

Tzardine

Timeless12 wrote: »

Next time just leave your stuff there and go somewhere else.

Seems like a bit of a tantrum over 70c.

OldNotWIse

Timeless12 wrote: »

Next time just leave your stuff there and go somewhere else.

Its not that annoying And often on a break from work, going to a further shop isnt an option. I just wish they'd stock the 22c ones as well ass the heavy ones.

When I worked in supervalu it used to really bug me when people would ocme in and spend loads of money on shopping and then pilfer our fruit and veg bags for packing :rolleyes:

IngazZagni

IngazZagni wrote: »

I live in England quite a lot at the moment and when I'm at the shop I regularly forget I can take a plastic bag for free. It's great. So much less hassle. I haven't noticed any more litter regarding plastic bags there than I do here now.

They have bag Levy too now. Even on paper bags!

AnonoBoy

The people who moan about the tax are the people whose behaviour the tax was brought in to combat.

Can't see further than their own noses.

Captain Farrell

Strawberry Milkshake wrote: »

They have bag Levy too now. Even on paper bags!

No we don't. I go shopping almost every day and there is no charge for bags, other than in Wales where it's 5p for a plastic bag.

rubadub

NiallSparky wrote: »

I don't really think it's "nanny state nonsense" when it's having a clear tangible effect on the environment that's benefitting everyone. Is it also nanny state nonsense that it's illegal to empty your rubbish into the local river every Tuesday?

FearDark wrote: »

No thats illegal. The 22c goes into government coffers...or now probably to Angela Merkel.

I don't follow your logic/answer, he asked you if its nanny state nonsense to dump rubbish. You say "no that's illegal", well its illegal not to charge for the bags too, so does this not similarly qualify it not being "nanny state nonsense".

the_syco

FearDark wrote: »

More nanny state nonscence.

See a lot less plastic bags blowing about these days!

MonaPizza

wobbles-grogan wrote: »

For good reason it came in too.

I see. So charging people for a plastic bag is going to miraculously stop loads of them being dumped in the Pacific by oh-so-ethical recycling companies.
I see plastic bottles in that pic too. Are you charged extra for your flagon of Coke? I don't see any machines in any supermarkets in this country where you can bring a plastic bottle and get 5c back on it.

So I go to the shop and buy a roll of 30 yards of cling film, a ten-pack of Tayto (which come in another large plastic bag) 6 large plastic bottles of minerals (all held together tightly by a plastic flim), some rashers, sausages, black pud (all in plastic wrappers), a plastic bottle of brown sauce and a plastic bottle of milk for my brekkie........BUT......charging me 1.40 for 2 bags to carry all this sh1t home is somehow going to stop all of it winding up in the damn sea?

Gimme a break.

MonaPizza

thebostoncrab wrote: »

...most places do give you paper bags or boxes

Dunnes don't.

Captain Farrell

Captain Farrell wrote: »

No we don't. I go shopping almost every day and there is no charge for bags, other than in Wales where it's 5p for a plastic bag.

Sorry, my mistake it's an across the board Levy on all bags in NI http://www.nidirect.gov.uk/sm/carrier-bag-levy

The plastic bag Levy will be hitting England in 2015 https://www.gov.uk/government/news/plastic-bag-charge-set-to-benefit-the-environment

Skatedude

I find the most annoying thing is what tesco's does. they charge you the 22 cents for a plastic bag. But they are so small that you pretty much need a bag for each item and are so thin that they usually just tear. I'd use 3 or 4 bags easily for the same items that i can carry in a single bag from spar

i agree that the tax helps with rubbish and waste, but there should be a standard minimum size/strength.

Skerries

I think I read somewhere that the bags for life were uneconomical as to get the environmental advantage out of them you would have to use them more than 70 times but most people don't use them more than 10-20 times on average

rubadub

MonaPizza wrote: »

So charging people for a plastic bag is going to miraculously stop loads of them being dumped in the Pacific by oh-so-ethical recycling companies.

yes, its not really a miracle though. People are resuing bags so far less are being produced in the first place. So it ends up that any unethical recycling companies get less bags and so dump less, simple.

wexie

Tipsy McSwagger wrote: »

Most people have walked out of a supermarket juggling about 10 items instead of paying for a plastic bag.

nah, I bring the trolley out to the car and then have everything rolling around in the boot on the way home

K-9

Skerries wrote: »

I think I read somewhere that the bags for life were uneconomical as to get the environmental advantage out of them you would have to use them more than 70 times but most people don't use them more than 10-20 times on average

I suppose most people have a plastic bag press so not as many are getting dumped in the countryside, burned or in waste. The tax does change behaviour and I really don't think that would have happened without the tax.

MonaPizza

c_man wrote: »

I remember once while working in an offy, a miserable old git buying a heap of cans and some bottles of wine.

Me: D'wanna bag?
Him: Will you charge me for it?
Me: Well yeah, it's the law.
Him: **** yourself so.

He craddles the lot, waddles out the door awkardly and starts on his way up the road to his merc. Half way up, his loses his grip and the lot go. Broken bottles and hissing cans. Arsehole.

:pac:
Beautiful!!
You should have dashed out and screamed "YeaaaaaHHHH!!!" like Jay from Clerks. Maybe shouted "Clean it up now, arsehole. A few bags would have been cheaper than the 25 euro littering fine you're about to get!"

meoklmrk91

wexie wrote: »

nah, I bring the trolley out to the car and then have everything rolling around in the boot on the way home

I do the very same thing, haven't used a bag for years. Feck it all into the trolley, pay for it, feck it back into the trolley, feck it into the boot and carry it into the house. Don't see the point of bags unless your walking.

Tbh I'm a big fan of the levy, there has been a 90% reduction in how many plastic bags we use, is there still litter, yes, but still I think it's a resounding success. And for those who say its just the government taxing is for the fun of it, in fairness I can't think of any other way that they would have gotten this much of a reduction this fast, this is a tax I am firmly in favour of.

Also those who whinge about it ten years later, it's not because they are auld ones or Culchies, it's because they are chancers, they more than likely have gotten away with it a few times and that's why they keep doing it.

Frank Lee Midere

MonaPizza wrote: »

I see. So charging people for a plastic bag is going to miraculously stop loads of them being dumped in the Pacific by oh-so-ethical recycling companies.
I see plastic bottles in that pic too. Are you charged extra for your flagon of Coke? I don't see any machines in any supermarkets in this country where you can bring a plastic bottle and get 5c back on it.

So I go to the shop and buy a roll of 30 yards of cling film, a ten-pack of Tayto (which come in another large plastic bag) 6 large plastic bottles of minerals (all held together tightly by a plastic flim), some rashers, sausages, black pud (all in plastic wrappers), a plastic bottle of brown sauce and a plastic bottle of milk for my brekkie........BUT......charging me 1.40 for 2 bags to carry all this sh1t home is somehow going to stop all of it winding up in the damn sea?

Gimme a break.

I doubt if you would be happy if the nanny state was to introduce a plastic tax on all items. So that's just an excuse. All of that could go - cans could replace plastic bottles, rashers could be wrapped in paper or some biogradable material.

And despite the photo of the sea the real benefit was the Irish countryside. Plastic bags used to be everywhere.

elfy4eva

There used to be a tree on our street that was home to what must have been an entire shops worth of plastic bags. They used to blow around the streets of Dublin like tumbleweed. Was very glad to see an end to them being given out in bulk.

theteal

Strawberry Milkshake wrote: »

They have bag Levy too now. Even on paper bags!

nope. Only Aldi and Lidl charge for their bags and 9p is hardly gonna break the bank. They should bring in a similar tax over here, I can't actually fathom the amount of plastic waste that comes from a country with such a population.

Kondo69

To be fair it has resolved the problem of so much litter, plastic bags were everywhere at one stage!