IKEA To Start Charging For Plastic Bags

[RitcheyRch]

Wonder when the grocery stores will follow suit. Paper or pay will be the new matra.
http://www.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/idUSN2131088920070222
Sweden's IKEA will charge U.S. customers five cents for disposable plastic shopping bags in what the international furniture giant said on Wednesday was a first step to ending their use altogether.
IKEA said the decision to stop giving away free bags to customers aimed to reduce the estimated 100 billion bags thrown away by all U.S. consumers each year.
IKEA is believed to be first major retailer in the United States to undertake such a program, according to National Retail Federation spokesman Scott Krugman.
Concern about widespread pollution caused by the bags has led cities and countries from Ireland to Australia and Rwanda to ban their use. Bangladesh outlawed plastic bags after they blocked drains and contributed to flooding. Taiwan uses 80 percent fewer bags after stores began charging for them.
Environmentalists say the bags add unnecessarily to landfills, clog drains and endanger wildlife.
IKEA currently provides some 70 million free bags to its U.S. customers; it expects to cut that by half in the first year and to eventually eliminate the use of the bags.
The company said it will also cut the price of reusable bags to 59 cents from 99 cents to encourage their use. The program will begin on March 15 at the company's 29 U.S. stores and the money from bag sales will go to American Forests, a conservation group.
Last June, IKEA began charging its U.K. customers for plastic bags, and has reduced its bag consumption by 95 percent, said spokeswoman Mona Astra Liss.
The average American family of four throws away about 1,500 single-use polyethylene bags, which do not degrade for around 1,000 years, IKEA said. Less than 1 percent are recycled.
"We believe Americans are starting to be more conscious of the environment," Liss said. "Our objective is to get people to really think about the impact of the bags which are strangling the planet."

[h2oski2fast]

Why not just stop using the bags IKEA?

[Coded-Dude]

100 billion bags at 5 cents a pop....yeah this is for environmental reasons. :rolleyes:
"Would you like to double bag that for an additional 5 cents sir?"

[SB]

I guess I'll go back to re-using a paper bag, a thick, heavy one.
I'm not paying extra for a plastic bag that is so thin it rips immediately.
Looks like walmart has figured out the bagging process is speedier with the plastic.

[Jordy]

The average American family of four throws away about 1,500 single-use polyethylene bags, which do not degrade for around 1,000 years, IKEA said.
And plastic bags have been around for thousands of years and we've been studying the rate at which they degrade for almost as long. Interesting. :notam:

[riverracerx]

I was just there and they don't tell you that at the register, but there is a few signs hanging up. If you are in a hurry you would never see them or know you got charged.
I hope this doen't become a trend.
Next will be bottled air for sale.

[RitcheyRch]

Agree. I didnt realize we have been producing plastic bags for that long. :D
And plastic bags have been around for thousands of years and we've been studying the rate at which they degrade for almost as long. Interesting. :notam:

[rrrr]

I read that the Sham Francisco Board of Supervisors banned plastic grocery bags last week.......

[havaduner]

You know its funny that all the tree huggers convinced everyone to switch to plastic bags instead of paper, to help reduce the number of trees being cut down. Trees are a renewable resource. Poly bags are a petroleum based product, which everyone keeps telling us we're going to run out of someday, so not sure what the big deal about going back to paper, are using reusable bags is all about.

[Tom Brown]

We've got a couple of grocery stores here that charge for bags. One of them is the largest Grocery store in Canada (the Real Canadian Superstore). It's no big deal. It adds about $0.60 to the bill if you want to carry on as normal or adds a couple of minutes per customer if you get behind an older woman who is using some home sewn bags with embroidered designs and quilted handles for comfort.

[Tom Brown]

You know its funny that all the tree huggers convinced everyone to switch to plastic bags instead of paper, to help reduce the number of trees being cut down.
Your history is different than mine. :cool:

[shueman]

IKEA...they still in business...?? Sell furniture, right...?? Not too many items in those stores will FIT in a plastic bag...:D Grocery stores have been recycling from some time...

[Rexone]

And plastic bags have been around for thousands of years and we've been studying the rate at which they degrade for almost as long. Interesting. :notam:
They must be using different bags than me. Half of mine disentegrate before I get them in the house.
The remaining half I use to collect dog crap my dogs leave behind on walks.
Occasionally I get the two groups mixed up. That is not a happy day.

[Rexone]

One of them is the largest Grocery store in Canada (the Real Canadian Superstore). It's no big deal.
So what, this outfit uses a few hundred bags a week :D

[CornWater]

And plastic bags have been around for thousands of years and we've been studying the rate at which they degrade for almost as long. Interesting. :notam:
It's science....
:D

[rrrr]

They must be using different bags than me. Half of mine disentegrate before I get them in the house.
The remaining half I use to collect dog crap my dogs leave behind on walks.
Occasionally I get the two groups mixed up. That is not a happy day.
Note to self: Don't eat the cocktail weenies at Rexone's next party......:jawdrop:

[Rexone]

Note to self: Don't eat the cocktail weenies at Rexone's next party......:jawdrop:
The cocktail weenies are safe rrrr. It's the chocolate covered cherries and tootsie rolls that are suspect occasionally. Sniff before chomp... that's my motto.

[Riverless]

IKEA...they still in business...?? Sell furniture, right...?? Not too many items in those stores will FIT in a plastic bag...:D
you must not have been in an ikea in a long time, they sell lots of smaller items that fit into plastic bags. lots of little home and kitchen accessories in addition to furniture.

[Coded-Dude]

Yeah, it like saying LOWES(and/or Home Depot) don't use plastic bags much.....
I've never been to one, but my old roommate's wife went there religiously.
(and collected quite a few plastic bags)

[CARLSON-JET]

This will be a mixed bag for Poster X. On one hand his wardrobe expenses will be increasing, on the other hand he will always be prepared for shopping at IKEA. I can honestly say 1. I have never been to an IKEA. 2. I will never go to an Ikea. I don't even like typing the name. :D

[My Man's Sportin' Wood]

Funny how things come full circle. I remember Albertson's (or maybe it was Lucky) was talking about charging a nickle for paper bags. This was because they cost more. And when the plastic ones first came out, they said they were biodegradeable and actually degraded faster than the paper ones. I never bought that for a second. Anyway, I've only been into IKEA once and wasn't that impressed.

[Ziggy]

who is using some home sewn bags with embroidered designs and quilted handles for comfort.
This is quite the norm in Europe actually.
.
Man, pretty soon we'll get hit up with that old and very difficult question at the grocery stores again.....paper or plastic? There's the major delay, not sackin' in your own bag :D:D

[rrrr]

This is quite the norm in Europe actually.
.
HEY!!!! When I wanna start acting like the effin' Europeans, I'll start lookin' for a woman that doesn't shave her pits!
MKAY? :mad:
:D :D

[Baja Big Dog]

Why not quit using IKEA????
Dam foreigners.....

[Ziggy]

HEY!!!! When I wanna start acting like the effin' Europeans, I'll start lookin' for a woman that doesn't shave her pits!
MKAY? :mad:
:D :D
LOL........TB is the one who brought it up, probably cuz of the Quebecans and their french connection dealio slowly infiltrating the other provinces in Canada and hairying up the great white north. :D:D Eh?:)

[2Driver]

Unless you are an 18 year old girl moving out for the first time there is not much in that store to buy let alone paying for the shopping bags. :D :D :D