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Interesting. Here in Holland they banned the free thin plastic bags everywhere a while ago. To buy a plastic bag of any kind costs about 10 eurocents. Judging

by mercer 10y ago

Interesting. Here in Holland they banned the free thin plastic bags everywhere a while ago. To buy a plastic bag of any kind costs about 10 eurocents. Judging from my own behavior as a rather lazy consumer and from observing the people around me, it seems to have been pretty effective. Most of the people around me bring a bag to the store and personally I buy many fewer 10c bags these days.

abreu 10y ago
Basically, this "law" is more effective in some cultures than others.. (My wife studied in .nl long enough to adopt some Dutch habits, and now she demands I bring a bag every time I go to the store.)
cerebellum42 10y ago
Pretty much the same situation in Germany. That paper really only applies to the US, in Europe the whole shopping culture is so different it's hardly comparable. Starting with the fact that Europe is much less car focused, which leads to more trips with smaller amounts being bought each time. The more condensed European cities lend themselves to that kind of behaviour, since the trips are going to be pretty short and likely to be made on a bike, walking, or using public transport. From my experience, I would estimate maybe 20% of checkouts include a 10c bag, the rest just use their own backpacks, cotton bags or the reusable sturdy kind of plastic bags. I don't even know when I last saw someone buy multiple 10c bags to carry their groceries.
- detaro 10y ago
  And when going shopping with the car: put everything back in the shopping cart, take the cart to the car, load everything in the car (e.g. in boxes in the trunk), 0 bags and 0 carrying needed.
Someone 10y ago
There's an EU directive that states that countries must work towards decreasing the use of disposable bags. How they do it is up to them, so you will find various solutions, from outright forbidding them to requiring some payment. AFAIK, you still can get free plastic bags if they are part of necessary packaging, for example on farmer's markets. EU Directive: http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/HTML/?uri=CELEX:32015L0720&from=EN http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/HTML/?uri=CELE... says: "Member States may choose to exempt plastic carrier bags with a wall thickness below 15 microns (‘very lightweight plastic carrier bags’) provided as primary packaging for loose food when required for hygiene purposes or when their use helps prevent food wastage."

by mercer 10y ago

abreu 10y ago

Basically, this "law" is more effective in some cultures than others.. (My wife studied in .nl long enough to adopt some Dutch habits, and now she demands I bring a bag every time I go to the store.)

cerebellum42 10y ago

Pretty much the same situation in Germany. That paper really only applies to the US, in Europe the whole shopping culture is so different it's hardly comparable. Starting with the fact that Europe is much less car focused, which leads to more trips with smaller amounts being bought each time. The more condensed European cities lend themselves to that kind of behaviour, since the trips are going to be pretty short and likely to be made on a bike, walking, or using public transport. From my experience, I would estimate maybe 20% of checkouts include a 10c bag, the rest just use their own backpacks, cotton bags or the reusable sturdy kind of plastic bags. I don't even know when I last saw someone buy multiple 10c bags to carry their groceries.

detaro 10y ago
And when going shopping with the car: put everything back in the shopping cart, take the cart to the car, load everything in the car (e.g. in boxes in the trunk), 0 bags and 0 carrying needed.

Someone 10y ago

There's an EU directive that states that countries must work towards decreasing the use of disposable bags. How they do it is up to them, so you will find various solutions, from outright forbidding them to requiring some payment. AFAIK, you still can get free plastic bags if they are part of necessary packaging, for example on farmer's markets. EU Directive: http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/HTML/?uri=CELEX:32015L0720&from=EN http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/HTML/?uri=CELE... says: "Member States may choose to exempt plastic carrier bags with a wall thickness below 15 microns (‘very lightweight plastic carrier bags’) provided as primary packaging for loose food when required for hygiene purposes or when their use helps prevent food wastage."