Paying 5 cents for a Grocery Bag at Ikea July 16
If you had to pay 5 cents for a bag would you bring your own or carry your items bag-less instead?
If you shop at Ikea, you will now be paying for using a bag. I went this last weekend and was pleased to see their new policy of charging 5 cents per bag. (I chose to not buy any bags, bring things to the car in the cart, and find a stray bag in the car to bag them in).
The first time I went grocery shopping while studying abroad I was completely shocked to find out that I had to PAY FOR a plain plastic grocery bag. It is this way over most of eastern-Europe. Granted, their grocery bags were nicer than those we get in the U.S, but still, I couldn’t believe that they would charge you for this.
Then it dawned on me. It’s a good thing when businesses charge for bags. Why? Because fewer bags will be used resulting in less waste. Plastic bags are terrible for the environment. According to this article they take 1000 years to break down (and I can’t imagine all the chemicals that leach into the ground with them. Moreover, we end up paying for the cost of the bags in the products we buy.
While abroad I learned to carry an extra bag with me wherever I go. That way, I would never have to pay for bags. (Occasionally I would forget and cough up the pennies, but for the most part it became a habit to bring a bag with me.)
I hope other companies adopt this policy and start charging for bags. It would be slightly annoying at first, but in the long run we would all be better off.
Jennifer Jul 16
The way I see it, stores are always charging you for bags - because even if it’s not overt, the cost of the bags are included in the prices they charge for their products. I prefer lower prices, so I’m happy to bring my own bags.
Bellen Jul 17
This was common in the 70s in Connecticut. When I had my own store in the 90s in CT, I used plastic bags (much to customer’s dislike) because they cost 1/3 what brown paper bags cost. Highly recommend bringing your own bags - hard to do at places like WalMart, tho.
Brandon J Jul 24
Trader Joe’s gives discounts or incentives to return their paper bags and reuse them.
I don’t know the effectiveness it has on saving the planet; however, I don’t think it hurts anything.
Like Jennifer said, it doesn’t matter how they charge you for the bag…you will still get charged somehow.
RT Wolf Jul 26
Up here in Canuckland, discount grocery stores (Price Chopper and No Frills being two most readily available examples) charge five cents for bags. Have for years. I always wondered whether it became one of those tiny factors taht caused people to buy less groceries or something.
Zachary Jul 26
After seeing my wife lug home a trunk full of Ikea items with no bags (she refused to pay the 5 cent bag fee), I am inclined to just pony up the five cents and be done with it!
SavingDiva Aug 9
I think this is great! I try to bring my own bags for most of my shopping. Also, I carry a large purse, so I frequently toss random items into my purse (to keep from adding another plastic bag to my collection).
MONEY BLUE BOOK Aug 29
Dang - I’m all up for savings and I’m all about discounts and coupons, but 5 cents is something I can live with. Can you double bag it please
-Raymond (MONEY BLUE BOOK)
Christine Sep 26
I just discovered your website and I think it has a lot of valuable information. I was studying abroad this summer in France and we bought reusable (one cloth, one plastic) shopping bags and took them everywhere with us. They’re not only more environmentally-friendly, they’re much bigger and sturdier, so I definitely brought them back to the US with me!
Dr. Frugal Oct 23
This might not be true in all cases, but don’t most stores already include that cost in with the product itself? They might make it “known” when they put an offer like that out but personally I would imagine when they don’t, things like the cost of bagging would already be built into the overhead.