People bitching about a nickel.

[techs]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100222/ap_on_bi_ge/us_paying_for_plastic

Plastic bags in US — to pay or not to pay?

For decades the standard question at U.S. grocery store check-out counters has been "Paper or Plastic?" But since January, consumers in the U.S. capital have faced a different question: "Will you pay 5 cents for a bag?"

"I think it's unnecessary," said Daniel Koroma, 57, as he toted groceries home from a supermarket in a plastic bag that he'd paid for. "They sell you the groceries, they should give you something to put them in."

The issue has sparked debate and many shoppers would rather juggle items in their arms or drive to stores in neighboring states where bags are still free.



Wow. People bitching over a nickel. There are so many ripoffs going on in the US that cost us real money, yet people bitching over a nickel.

And wtf with people driving to other states to save the nickel a bag?

I submit this thread in the interests of wtf is wrong with people.

 

[ahenkel]

I don't mind paying a nickel a bag if they put more shit in them I'll go shopping at safeway and they use way to many bags.

 

[moshquerade]

it's just one more thing...

although i do think plastic bags are taking over the planet i guess this would force me to bring my own re-usable bags.

 

[zerocool84]

I care. Here in LA in July, they're going to charge 25c for a damn bag. That's f'n retarded. I could care less about stupid reusable bags. I just throw my plastic bags in the recycle can.

 

[OUCaptain]

I like the Sam's club (and similar) approach. No bags and their shipping boxes get used twice.

I had a woman bitch me out one because I "apparently" shorted her a nickel. People are weird

 

[ahenkel]

I have reusable bags I just forget them. I like how Costco provides boxes but I rarely shop there since shopping I'm shopping for one.

 

[sjwaste]

It probably wouldn't deter me, really. I mean, even if I need 10 bags, which is rare (family of 2) I think I can eat the 50 cents. It's really just another way for a supermarket to pass on more of its costs to the consumer. Margins in that industry are pretty thin, especially in the "regular" supermarkets like Safeway, Giant, Acme, etc. I was in a training class a few years ago with a guy who was pretty high up the Publix chain, and I learned a good deal from him about grocery operations. It's a pretty competitive business.

Now, if I ever go into a Harris Teeter, Wegmans, or Whole Foods and they want to charge me for bags, that's something else. Their margins are significantly better and being nickel and dimed there for bags would be offensive to me as a consumer. At that point, it's not a matter of the cost, but I would probably avoid that store.

 

[SirStev0]

I love the idea. In my opinion instead of absorbing the cost by making my groceries cost more they are charging the numbnuts who refuse to get some reusable bags.

My grocery bills go down!

 

[Vette73]

It probably wouldn't deter me, really. I mean, even if I need 10 bags, which is rare (family of 2) I think I can eat the 50 cents. It's really just another way for a supermarket to pass on more of its costs to the consumer. Margins in that industry are pretty thin, especially in the "regular" supermarkets like Safeway, Giant, Acme, etc. I was in a training class a few years ago with a guy who was pretty high up the Publix chain, and I learned a good deal from him about grocery operations. It's a pretty competitive business.

Now, if I ever go into a Harris Teeter, Wegmans, or Whole Foods and they want to charge me for bags, that's something else. Their margins are significantly better and being nickel and dimed there for bags would be offensive to me as a consumer. At that point, it's not a matter of the cost, but I would probably avoid that store.

The fee is not a store fee but a city fee. So ALL stores have to do it and I THINK they do not get to keep the money?

 

[Zebo]

I wouldn't shop there. I like bags and paper too...makes good kindling when I burn used tires and trash.

 

[bignateyk]

Just bring reusable bags if the extra 50 cents is gonna break the bank. I don't really have a problem with this.

 

[bignateyk]

I care. Here in LA in July, they're going to charge 25c for a damn bag. That's f'n retarded. I could care less about stupid reusable bags. I just throw my plastic bags in the recycle can.

So you spend $100 a week on groceries, and you get 10 bags to put them in. That's only an extra $2.50, or $10 a month. More realistically you are probably only using 5 bags per trip.

If that extra $5 a month is gonna kill you, then you can get 5 reusable bags for less than $5 and never have to pay again.

 

[EMPshockwave82]

I care. Here in LA in July, they're going to charge 25c for a damn bag. That's f'n retarded. I could care less about stupid reusable bags. I just throw my plastic bags in the recycle can.

How much less could you care?



But seriously. I know there are people that would drive 20 miles to not pay 5c per bag but when I lived in Omaha I had Nebraska stores and Iowa stores that may have been a 1 mile difference between the two of them. If Nebraska was charging 5c per plastic bag and Iowa wasn't then where do you think I'd shop (assuming all other prices were the same).

 

[techs]

How much less could you care?



But seriously. I know there are people that would drive 20 miles to not pay 5c per bag but when I lived in Omaha I had Nebraska stores and Iowa stores that may have been a 1 mile difference between the two of them. If Nebraska was charging 5c per plastic bag and Iowa wasn't then where do you think I'd shop (assuming all other prices were the same).

You know, that's the kind of reasoning that has gotten this country into trouble.
You are saying we should all stoop to the lowest common denominator. Ex. If Chinese workers are virtual slaves and the Chinese government allows companies to pollute its environment, then we should also do these things in the US. Otherwise, how are we going to compete?

 

[shortylickens]

For reference: Those plastic bags were never free. They always cost somebody something. I think that we all got them for free for so many years kinda spoiled us. We do end up paying for them anyway, with the goods we buy. I think if Big Brother wanted to impose a special fee they should have just charged businesses a flat rate based on their average bag use per month.
Then the business could raise the price on all their more expensive items by a penny, and everything would have worked out in the end and nobody would have even known anything about it.

People arent pissed they have to pay 5 cents for a bag. They're pissed they know about it. When the government fucks them up the ass every other day of the year they dont complain. Cuz they dont know (or no longer care). Same deal with the bags. Eventually they will forget about it completely.

 

[techs]

For reference: Those plastic bags were never free. They always cost somebody something. I think that we all got them for free for so many years kinda spoiled us. We do end up paying for them anyway, with the goods we buy. I think if Big Brother wanted to impose a special fee they should have just charged businesses a flat rate based on their average bag use per month.
Then the business could raise the price on all their more expensive items by a penny, and everything would have worked out in the end and nobody would have even known anything about it.

People arent pissed they have to pay 5 cents for a bag. They're pissed they know about it. When the government fucks them up the ass every other day of the year they dont complain. Cuz they dont know (or no longer care). Same deal with the bags. Eventually they will forget about it completely.

My take is the anti-tax zealots have made it so hard for municipalities to raise taxes, they are turning to "use based" taxes.
Too bad, since these taxes aren't progressive, and in effect benefit wealthy people over everyone else.

 

[rudder]

I wouldn't shop there. I like bags and paper too...makes good kindling when I burn used tires and trash.

If we can ever locate Al Gore... I think he would like to have a word with you.

 

[amdhunter]

I can probably afford a nickel more than the average man, and this pisses me off. Once you set a price, it will only rise up -- today it's a nickel, tomorrow a dime, and as someone else said here already, it will be 25¢.

It will eventually add up.

 

[HardcoreRobot]

stupid. just roll the cost into the price of the item like every other overhead item. how long until we pay 5 cents for a soda, then 10 cents for labor, 20 cents for rent, 10 cents for utilities, etc.? just f'ing stupid.

 

[darkswordsman17]

My grocery bills go down!

No they won't. Don't be surprised if your grocery bills will actually go up due to this.

 

[Linflas]

It is not the nickel, but what the nickle represents: More nanny state intrusion into every little corner of our lives. If a store on its own decided to do this I would have no issue with it since I have the choice to take my business elsewhere if I found it objectionable. We used to recycle bottles this way with no government mandate required. We drank the coke from a glass bottle, returned it for the deposit and the store returned the bottle to the manufacturer who cleaned and sanitized it and refilled it with coke.

 

[techs]

It is not the nickel, but what the nickle represents: More nanny state intrusion into every little corner of our lives. If a store on its own decided to do this I would have no issue with it since I have the choice to take my business elsewhere if I found it objectionable. We used to recycle bottles this way with no government mandate required. We drank the coke from a glass bottle, returned it for the deposit and the store returned the bottle to the manufacturer who cleaned and sanitized it and refilled it with coke.

Funny. The most successful "government intrusion" has been in states with bottle return laws.

 

[HardcoreRobot]

Funny. The most successful "government intrusion" has been in states with bottle return laws.

define successful?

 

[techs]

Funny. The most successful "government intrusion" has been in states with bottle return laws.

define successful?

States with bottle bills are strikingly cleaner than states without. I almost never see a bottle or can on the streets where I live. I have gone to states without bottle bills and there are cans and broken glass everywhere. Huge amounts of plastics and aluminum have been recycled, saving America large amounts of money that would have gone for imported oil, and lowered emissions from coal fired power plants that didn't have to provide the electricity to produce virgin aluminum.
Helped US balance of payments. Cut down on landfill usage.
Created jobs that kept money in the US instead of going offshore to pay for oil.

 

[nageov3t]

can I get my money back when I bring my old plastic bags back to the grocery store for recycling?