Old habits die hard: Stores try to cut down on plastic bags, but shoppers remain stubborn

[Oziex1]

This should not be about choice, we got along without them before can do without then now, get rid of them.

[dcnx]

7 minutes ago, Mansinthe said:

don't think this will ever change in Asia

In Thailand.

 

The neighbors are doing a lot to better their education. Thailand is not. The rest of Asia will clean up long before the Thais do.

[Krataiboy]

54 minutes ago, glennb6 said:

Hey Krataiboy,  save the planet and breath less. The hot air/CO2 from your mouth is contributing to gloBULL warming.  BTW, drive some of the back soi's and take a look at the makeshift garbage dumps along the sides of the roads and stop worrying about a few plastic bags.

GloBULL warming! Like it, not least because I happen to agree with the underlying sentiment. However, the plastic bags ARE a problem - and, unlike the deeply ingrained Thai "chuckaway" culture that creates roadside rubbish dumps, one that's easily fixable. So why not do it?

 

 

[Pluto56]

I get it that plastic bags can result in damage to the environment but in my experience here in Bangkok, I shudder to think of what I would do without them.  Trash disposal would be a nightmare without plastic bags. If you think the smell, rat and roach problem is bad now, just wait until trash is put out in paper bags. I would gladly pay extra at the counter for a biodegradable plastic bag.

[fullcave]

Simple solution, don't litter. Can't seem to get it through their thick heads. 

[Vacuum]

15 minutes ago, trainman34014 said:

They got rid of the stupid idea of handing out car parking tickets as well

Haven't noticed this. A local occurence?

[natway09]

Has Amazon put a regime in place to try & use "proper" real  cups No, why do I get a throw away cup when I say drinking in the place.

The biggest problem with plastic is NOT the plastic itself but the correct method of disposal

[bangkok12345]

Glad to see yesterday at Office Mate that even for large purchases they don’t give you plastic bags, they don’t even have any, but they would give you a carton to carry your stuff out - thumbs up ????????

[HHTel]

3 hours ago, legend49 said:

Bizarre, in Chiang Mai Homepro has totally banned all plastic bags, no options of buying them

Same in Hua Hin.

[Hooliganzone]

I went to a 7/11 last night and bought an ice cream and they was going to put it into a plastic bag...LOL

[oldgit]

6 hours ago, canopy said:

Disagree. Plastic bags should be banned period. The government and private sector strategy of using fewer bags, less harmful plastics, or pay for bags is all nonsense because none of these strategies solves the problems. Why don't we cut to the chase here? If people want a bag, sell them a RECYCLED PAPER BAG. Problem solved before the year is out. We need 0 plastic bags out there, not billions. But no one has this vision.

 

Pity the Research and Development Depts. in the big plastic manufacturers in the 1950's and onwards, didn't have the vision and drive to examine their product, foresee the problem of disposing of the stuff, and take measures to improve it. They have got off very lightly over the years and should be made to pay for the world wide clean up.

[JHolmesJr]

I dont buy into all this BS on plastic bags. I want one for my purchases.

My responsibility lies with not throwing it into the sea but in the proper trash

channels, as I pay money for the government to collect and dispose them off

properly...that's THEIR responsibility.

 

Enough of this posturing, we are the world nonsense.

[Misab]

What!    Do Amazon Café expect people to bring their own cup? 

That’s a laugh. 

What about Amazon buy a dishwashing machine a serve their customer coffee from a real cup they can reuse again and again.  Until Then I will drink my coffee somewhere else.

[newnative]

6 hours ago, canopy said:

Disagree. Plastic bags should be banned period. The government and private sector strategy of using fewer bags, less harmful plastics, or pay for bags is all nonsense because none of these strategies solves the problems. Why don't we cut to the chase here? If people want a bag, sell them a RECYCLED PAPER BAG. Problem solved before the year is out. We need 0 plastic bags out there, not billions. But no one has this vision.

 

    Totally agree.  They need to go all in.  Piecemeal isn't going to work.   One store doing this and one store doing that isn't going to work.  Just bite the bullet and do a total ban.  I'll be happy to buy a recycled paper bag if I forget to bring bags from home.

[to be green or not to be]

8 hours ago, fforest1 said:

Those damm Dugong they need to be shipped off to some remote island...We need our plastic and the Dugong keeps eating it........I am no cloth bag carrying sissy...My grandfather used plastic bags, My father used plastic bags, And you know what? I plan to carry on the family plastic bag tradition...

 

 

Shame on you "fforest" get some education .. go check the 6th continent in pacific ocean, you contribute to it..

[HHTel]

1 hour ago, ToddinChonburi said:

Having a full cart of groceries at check out then being informed that there is no bags. That is a really bad way to treat your customers. How do I get these groceries home.

Stores that I know that have banned plastic bags offer alternatives.

Makro, Villa, Tesco, Homepro, even 7/11 (on Koh Samed) to name a few.

 

I would say that it is a prerequisite for any store discontinuing plastic bags to issue an alternative.  The situation stated by ToddinChonburi should never happen.

[CygnusX1]

51 minutes ago, Beggar said:

Sorry - but many people here don't have cars. But for sure it would be a good idea to drive to the shops with perhaps SUVs so that they don't need to give you plastic bags. 

Exactly! So many holier-than-thou people driving their 2 tonne SUV to the supermarket and then proudly using  cloth bags. I don’t have a car in Thailand, and almost never use my car to go shopping in Australia, probably saved the petroleum equivalent of a million plastic bags over the decades.

 

As usual, the Europeans have it right - give out plastic bags for a small charge. Tops’ 1 bag free day a month is moronic. In addition to banning free plastic bags, how about also banning free supermarket car parks, give people an incentive not to use their cars for short shopping trips.

[HHTel]

According to 7/11's boast, donating 600+ million baht equates to a cost to the company of 5 baht per bag.  No way!  Pure propaganda.

 

If you're going to produce figures, make them believable.

[HHTel]

For those that claim the use of plastic bags by generations, it should be noted that the plastic bag was only invented in the '60s.  Prior to that the whole world managed without them.

[rickudon]

It will take time to get Thailand to take plastic reduction seriously - maybe 10 years, about what it took in the UK. Australia have only just woken up to the plastic threat and started banning last year. Pity they didn't set an example to their neighbours in SE Asia. 

 

Having a bag free day once a month is pointless - people forget. Start small, charge one baht a bag and eventually people will get it - then think of bans or taxes.

 

Paper carrier bags are pointless - cost about 4 times more, get wet and will not last. Encourage reusable bags - anyone could carry a small one in their pocket (I do). Just a habit you need to get used too.

 

Only the lazy and selfish wat throwaway bags.

[ICELANDMAN]

4 hours ago, legend49 said:

Bizarre, in Chiang Mai Homepro has totally banned all plastic bags, no options of buying them

My Homepro also, need go away with motorcycle and trolley.

[to be green or not to be]

Tesco lotus bakeries sell bread packed in plastics or paper bag.. put each wraped bread in a 2nd plastic bag to weight it individually then put the 2 breads i bough in a 3rd plastic bag to carry it alltogether.. 3 layers of plastic ! Total creasyness.. i have to ask them to unpack all this and the cashier thinks i am creasy.. throws the plastic bags instead of reusing it..

 

Supot electric shop has a signs no platic bag at their cashiers.. nice sign.. i buy one small item and the cashier put it in a plastic bag! I show her the sign asking her to keep the plastic bags.. she nodded. Saying is good .. doing is better!

 

Big C made the efforts to put some dismenteled hard paper boxes in a corner for customer to re-use the boxes instead of plastic bags.. but they impose you to buy their scotch tapes in order to rebuild the box so it can be used . Instead of simply keep them mounted for customers to use.. so many boxes garbaged that  can be reused in all this shops.

 

Make sure you writte a note to the mamagement in their suggestion box at customer service.. they will get it at some point..

 

thailand needs massive government green education to its population who has no idea of ecology.. just like all asia actually.

[to be green or not to be]

21 minutes ago, CygnusX1 said:

Exactly! So many holier-than-thou people driving their 2 tonne SUV to the supermarket and then proudly using  cloth bags. I don’t have a car in Thailand, and almost never use my car to go shopping in Australia, probably saved the petroleum equivalent of a million plastic bags over the decades.

 

As usual, the Europeans have it right - give out plastic bags for a small charge. Tops’ 1 bag free day a month is moronic. In addition to banning free plastic bags, how about also banning free supermarket car parks, give people an incentive not to use their cars for short shopping trips.

Please no hypocrisy. get educated .. accept and digest the message from the shop.. do your own effort.. and simply bring your reusable bag, or back pack or shopping trolley. Count how many plastic bags you saved in a year and in a life time that will not end up in the ocean and microfibers in your drinking water giving you and your children cancer and/or alzheimer (15% of people) .. and you will be proud to become green. Never to late start today ????

[ICELANDMAN]

1 hour ago, overherebc said:

Lots of places in Korea still have this system. Long bench with lots of boxes folded flat and rolls of tape/string etc but it's DIY. Trolleys have coin operated locks as well, you return it, stick the chain end in and get your coin back so you can park without having to move carts out of the way.

Like many countries Europe for many years

[Dustdevil]

This all sounds so stupid. Where I live in the States, supermarkets simply sell you (optionally) a strong canvas bag that is neither too big nor too small. No need to unfold it and all that nonsense. If you tend to buy large amounts of goods, get two bags. They're hanging by the checkout counter and you pick one up for $1.50 or something like that. I've been using the same ones for years--and they're a hell of a lot easier to use than plastic bags. You can also buy smaller ones for smaller stores. Thank heavens there is no such thing as a 7-11 the size of a closet. In fact, there are no 7-11s where I live. "Drug stores" are essentially large convenience stores with a pharmacy in back. Most gas stations also have smaller convenience stores.

[ICELANDMAN]

1 hour ago, Pluto56 said:

I get it that plastic bags can result in damage to the environment but in my experience here in Bangkok, I shudder to think of what I would do without them.  Trash disposal would be a nightmare without plastic bags. If you think the smell, rat and roach problem is bad now, just wait until trash is put out in paper bags. I would gladly pay extra at the counter for a biodegradable plastic bag.

Biodegradable plastic bag is not really biodegradable, only scam pub. Paper bag is strong and real bio

[gusincebu]

AFAIK Makro is the only store that makes you leave empty bags at the desk, everywhere else we don't have a problem putting them in the empty trolley.  Backpacks and small cases etc might be a problem, but I don't see that with an empty shopping bag. They do it in most western countries so why not here?

So everyone has a different experience ..
I go to Makro .(.Suk' Rd , Pattaya ).
My backpack goes in the trolley, it has 5 or 6 ex-Tops plastic bags in it ..I do my shop in store ,never once been requested or required to leave my bag at the counter.
I actually show the guard my bag and contents ..no problem ( until now :( )

Sent from my Mi A2 Lite using Tapatalk

[canopy]

4 hours ago, Crash999 said:

Plastic bags have other uses. Trash bags. Protective packaging. And so on. Can’t be replaced by paper.  

Your mind is so limited. Trash bags can, and are made of paper. So is protective packaging and so on. They even have waxed coated paper trash bags suitable for the kitchen that can withstand contact with wet items and stay perfectly intact.

 

 

 

Quote

 

A solution is using compostible bioplastic bags. They break down into natural materials quickly when exposed to the elements. But the cost is three times as much as regular bags, around 1.5 Baht each. So retailers haven’t adopted them.

 

The reason this makes no sense is such bags are still a threat to wildlife like sea turtles and animals that ingest them or get tangled in them. And their manufacture also produces too much toxic pollution into the environment. I am thus strongly against "less harmful" plastics. Recycled paper remains the superior solution.

 

[DJ54]

At the very least for starters charge 2-3 baht for each plastic bag. 

Eveeyone can help if items will fit in one bag don’t take two. Everything helps.

 

The Pharmacy I use give one plastic bag for the medicine (pills) and one plastic bag to put it In. Tell them One bag is OK. One everyday 

medicine I take I’ve had the plastic bottle for three years from original prescription in US just tell them put in the bottle. 

[canopy]

1 minute ago, DJ54 said:

At the very least for starters charge 2-3 baht for each plastic bag. 

No. Please go back and read post #5.