It’s surprising what will rile us Brits up. Bi-weekly bins, the pasty tax and now 5p carrier bags. The new law to pay for our carrier bags has caused widespread outrage across the country. While some people are protesting vocally, others are taking more extreme measures to get their shopping back home. As third year Creative & Professional Writing student Natalie Mallory joked, “It’s 5p for a bag, £1 for a trolley.”
Although this was obviously said in jest, some people are doing exactly that. Countless articles following the bag charge covered the theft of trollies sitting in triumphant shoppers’ kitchens, and metal baskets decorating counter tops. With heavy depletion in some stores, the supermarkets are fighting back. Security tags are being placed on their baskets as well individually tagging bags for life before the tills. All because some people refuse to pay 5p a bag.
So how is the charge affecting our students?
When chatting to a group of third years I was surprised when two of the group had to Google it. I couldn’t believe that they had not only managed to bypass all the media on the charge, but had seemingly been going without food. After chatting further, things became clearer.
When asked if this new change will affect them, one student shook his head, answering “I always take a rucksack anyway.” He was quickly joined with surrounding agreements from the other students who share their similar shopping habits. Another student, who was aware of the change, added that she often has extra bags folded up inside her bag just in case she needs them. It was also brought up that as students they are used to shopping in Lidl. Lidl is a European chain which, since arriving in the UK in 1994, has always charged for its carrier bags.
In this vein, the overall agreement at the table about the change was positive. The general consensus was to just take a rucksack and if you forget, you will have to buy a bag, essentially a tax on stupidity. The students could see that for large families this could be inconvenient, but it will be about adapting and keeping a few bags in the boot of your car.
“The overall agreement at the table about the change was positive”
“I know why people are annoyed, it’s obviously an inconvenience and it’s another thing you have to pay for that cuts into your money”, Tim Shelly, a student at the University of Nottingham told Impact Features.
He continued, “So it’s justified that people are getting annoyed by it. But at the same time, environmentally we do have an obligation to the planet. It seems like such a non-issue when you’ve got such massive things to focus on”.
“More people seem to have kicked off about bags than about the lack of help for Syrian refugees!” another student added, with the agreement of the group.
Other people believe that instead of being charged for a bag, you should be rewarded for bringing your own. Tesco, before the change, offered Clubcard owners green points for bringing their own bags as early as 2006. Now with the bag charge this reward has just stopped. Long-time bag bringers who were getting rewarded for doing so, have found themselves being bashed by the universal stick instead of striving for the carrot.
So now that the charge is in place, what happens with the money? Despite the common misconception that it’s a tax, it’s actually up to the supermarkets what they do choose to do with it. They are somewhat expected to give it to a charity, preferably environmentally aimed, but it remains up to them. To push them to do this they have to report to ministers how much they have earned and where the money has gone. This information will be published by the government yearly, for public review. So at the end of the year when this information is released, there is sure to be another surge of protest around the topic.
“It’s actually up to the supermarkets what they do choose to do with it”
It is also worth knowing that we are the last country in the UK to put the charge into practice. Wales started charging back in 2011 followed by Northern Ireland in 2013 and then Scotland late last year. All registered a successful drop in new bag numbers after the charge was put in place. Despite minor protest at the time, it is now quite settled as a normality. England is still in the adjustment period clearly. Despite our stubborn nature, I believe that eventually the free carrier bag will be a distant memory and the environment will be all the better for it.
How has the bag charge affected you? Comment below!
Alexandrea Cook
Image: Jeff via Flickr
