The wheel has come full circle
By Judy Evans
@JudyEv (340511)
Rockingham, Australia
August 15, 2018 8:17pm CST
I assume (there’s that word again) that most of you have heard of this term. Our supermarket has now outlawed the throwaway plastic bags that they once supplied for free. There is a sign at the entrance saying ‘STOP! Have you remembered your bags’. Of course many people get to this point and remember they’ve forgotten their bags 
at which point it’s a bit late.
Once you’ve bought your groceries you have several options if you’ve forgotten to remember your bags. The store has a box of ‘boomerang bags’ – shopping bags made by local people and intended to be borrowed but then returned next time or you can pay 15c for a strong plastic bag, which will eventually get discarded anyway. The third option is to pick a box from a big stockpile.
When I was a child, the supermarket had a similar pile of boxes that were used to pack groceries in. Some 60 years later and I’m seeing the same thing. Has your store outlawed plastic bags yet?
Photo is of one of the boomerang bags.
at which point it’s a bit late.
Once you’ve bought your groceries you have several options if you’ve forgotten to remember your bags. The store has a box of ‘boomerang bags’ – shopping bags made by local people and intended to be borrowed but then returned next time or you can pay 15c for a strong plastic bag, which will eventually get discarded anyway. The third option is to pick a box from a big stockpile.
When I was a child, the supermarket had a similar pile of boxes that were used to pack groceries in. Some 60 years later and I’m seeing the same thing. Has your store outlawed plastic bags yet?
Photo is of one of the boomerang bags.16 people like this
24 responses
@wolfgirl569 (106649)
• Marion, Ohio
16 Aug 18
Not yet, but the SAv-A-Lot stores do provide boxes for free for your groceries. They also have for sell paper, plastic, and cloth bags if you prefer one of those methods. I always just grab a box or 2.
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (340511)
• Rockingham, Australia
16 Aug 18
@wolfgirl569 What is it with cats and boxes? Our cats loved to find a box to curl up in too.
@JudyEv (340511)
• Rockingham, Australia
16 Aug 18
The boxes can be handy and used for other things.
@moffittjc (121621)
• Gainesville, Florida
16 Aug 18
Our elected officials just went through a big debate about whether or not to ban plastic shopping bags altogether in our city; the vote failed by one vote, but it's only a matter of time before a law is put in place to ban plastic bags. They are currently working on a law to ban plastic straws .
2 people like this
@moffittjc (121621)
• Gainesville, Florida
16 Aug 18
@JudyEv I can understand how things can get heated over such things, as our world is going to hell right before our eyes, and people are frantically trying to do something about it before it's too late. I'm all for doing everything we can to save Mother Earth, but I have a feeling it's already too late, and this poor planet is doomed.
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (340511)
• Rockingham, Australia
16 Aug 18
@moffittjc I think you might be right and that we've left our run a bit late. I guess the only thing to do is to keep doing what we hope and maybe hope for a miracle or three.
1 person likes this
@Morleyhunt (21744)
• Canada
16 Aug 18
We have the option of bringing our own bags....paying for cheap plastic bags....boxes were my favourite option...but the government said that wasn't allowed (unsanitary).
3 people like this
@andriaperry (116936)
• Anniston, Alabama
16 Aug 18
No. The only store we have to take our bags is Aldi.
2 people like this
@arthurchappell (44998)
• Preston, England
16 Aug 18
you have to pay for supermarket bags here now - I always carry carrier bags with me to save having to buy them
1 person likes this
@arthurchappell (44998)
• Preston, England
16 Aug 18
@JudyEv yes, very occassionally I have to get a fresh one occassionally when I forget mine or one looks close to breaking
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (340511)
• Rockingham, Australia
16 Aug 18
@arthurchappell Our 'good collection' has come from having to buy a fresh one occasionally as you've had to. You'll have a good collection soon too no doubt.
1 person likes this
@caopaopao (12395)
• China
16 Aug 18
The same is true of our supermarket. All plastic bags used to be free of charge. There is a charge for plastic bags now. So I often go shopping with a cloth bag.
1 person likes this
@ridingbet (66854)
• Philippines
16 Aug 18
i use my big bag where it is printed "recyclable' and i like it because i can just bag anything small size of items that we buy.
1 person likes this
@spiderdust (14760)
• San Jose, California
2 Sep 18
Yes, those cheap plastic bags have been outlawed here for years. I like the boomerang bag idea!
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (340511)
• Rockingham, Australia
2 Sep 18
I have a nice supply of cloth ones now so I'm pleased about that.
@arunima25 (87829)
• Bangalore, India
16 Aug 18
Plastic is legally banned in our city for some time. We carry our own cloth bags when we go out for shopping or if we forget one, we can buy the cotton and jute bags from the store. But still some vendors on roadside use it but recently there is fine imposed on use of plastic bags.
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (340511)
• Rockingham, Australia
17 Aug 18
@arunima25 Good for you. I hope many people are doing what you've done.
1 person likes this
@arunima25 (87829)
• Bangalore, India
16 Aug 18
@JudyEv I have not used plastic shopping bags since last 3 years.
1 person likes this
@sephoralove21 (19)
•
17 Aug 18
In Atlanta they really don’t push the idea of reusable bags however when I go to Canada, they stopped offering plastic bags. So you either bring your own or just carry your stuff in a cart till you get to the car.
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (340511)
• Rockingham, Australia
17 Aug 18
It seems that plastic is being phased out of some areas.
@KrauseHome (36448)
• United States
16 Aug 18
Around here you either bring a Bag or they sell you paper bags for like .10 cents each. I know many times we have forgot a bag and have had to carry the groceries or whatever in the cart with the receipt for proof out to the car.
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (340511)
• Rockingham, Australia
16 Aug 18
It took us ages to remember to take our bags with us but we are pretty good with it now.
@snowy22315 (180980)
• United States
16 Aug 18
Not yet, but some stores supply free totes for your groceries..and other places they are a nominal price like 99 cents. I am one who consistently forgets the tote bag..and has to get something. Yesterday at Aldi, I got a paper bag.
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (340511)
• Rockingham, Australia
16 Aug 18
I try to leave some in the car now but of course gradually they find their way inside and I forget to take them back to the car.
@xFiacre (13050)
• Ireland
16 Aug 18
@judyev We’ve been free of free plastic bags for quite a while now. We always found it strange that we were expected to bring our own bags when we went south of the border. Taking my own shopping bag made me feel a bit like Miss Marple at first - very little old lady.
1 person likes this
@JamesHxstatic (29413)
• Eugene, Oregon
17 Aug 18
Yes, we have the same signs and I often leave my bags in the car and either to back for them or pay five cents for a paper bag that we then use to recycle other paper.
Plastic straws are on the way out too. We use far too much plastic.
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (340511)
• Rockingham, Australia
17 Aug 18
Plastic is so convenient isn't it? No wonder it's been hard to wean people away from it.
@JudyEv (340511)
• Rockingham, Australia
16 Aug 18
Our neighbour and her church friends are responsible for making all the boomerang bags. They've made well over a thousand now.
@JudyEv (340511)
• Rockingham, Australia
17 Aug 18
Plastic bags are so convenient it's no wonder people have found it hard it give them up.
