Practice saying "no thanks, I don't need a bag"
When on a quick shopping trip for just a few items, the option thats better than paper, plastic or reusable is none at all!
When on a quick shopping trip for just a few items, the option thats better than paper, plastic or reusable is none at all!
I tend to forget my menagerie of recycled bags at home alot...
I feel so guilty about that sometimes, but i don't throw away any plastic ones i get, they either get reused in my house or sent to the recycling center.
I feel guilty when I forget my cotton one :(
I always bring my bag made of cotton even if I don't need everyday single day. And every time I show shopkeepers my lovely bag. You don't need to say something! They do definitely understand what you are ganna say ;) That is the easiest way I've ever done!
The stores around where I live in Central Wisconsin give you a $.05 discount per canvas bag you bring in when you go grocery shopping. My wife and I have gotten into the habit of keeping 5-10 of them in the trunk of our car at all times.
I live in New York where they are plastic bag crazy. They double bag everything and when you buy a drink in the shop they give you a bag, a napkin and a straw! One time I even had to argue with a lady because I didn't want a plastic bag.. Hopefully they will catch up with the eco-friendly world soon and start charging for plastic bags and promoting the use of reusables.
I've been doing this for a few years now. It's important to be polite and not shame shopkeepers. Nowadays I thank them for offering instead of just giving me one, and when they don't even offer I congratulate them!
Hopefully this is not company policy. I would have asked for a manager. It is less advertising for the store since you will not be walking around with a bag with their name on it, but it is saving them money because they pay for the bags.
Do they recycle used bags? You might inquire about that and then return the bag at your next visit to the store.
Depending on your personality, there are several things you can do the next time you visit their store. One thing is to get the manager and tell them they have lost a sale if they make you take their bag and that you will contact the upper management about this. Another is to empty the items from their bag into your own just after they hand it to you and give them back their empty bag.
You might also contact a local paper to see if they can find out about their bag policy. A news reporter is likely to get a quicker response from a Company. You could then follow up by contacting the company and ask them about their bag policy because you read the article.
interesting since Primark/Penneys is originally an irish company and Ireland has the plastic bag levy in place meaning that Primark don't give out plastic bags here and use paper ones instead and as long as you have receipt available to be checked by the store security they are quite happy for you to reject the paper bags and use your own. I don't think that as long as you have proof of purchase the shop can force you to use a polythene bag, it is only a security thing to help prevent shoplifting.
I can confirm the Primark experience (probably in the same branch as Clagnut in Brighton). It was a while back but I remember buying something in there, telling them I didn't want the big plastic bag but then being told that I had to take the bag or I'd get stopped by a security guard. Ridiculous!
Yo baggers!
This can be avoided by using the receipt as proof of purchase instead and carrying this on top of your primark purchase as you walk out of the store. I do it in M&S all the time.
Battle on.
i always have a backpack with me which is handy but i've never had a problem in Penney's (ireland Primark branch) putting my purchases in my bag at the till...
