A stitch in time saves loads of money

Hello. This post is for all shoppers in England. Are you ready for the new carrier bag charge that will come in on October 5th? All retailers who have more than 250 employees must charge a minimum of 5p for every single use plastic carrier bag they hand over to a customer. So, if you don't want to pay for your bags what are the options? 

You can purchase a bag for life, they are plastic and around 10p. When they are worn out you take them back to the shop and they exchange it for a new one free of charge. You can buy thick heavy duty bags that supermarkets sell from around £1 and upwards, or you can make your own, like these. I ran them up in a couple of hours on the machine this afternoon. They are made from heavy blackout curtain fabric which I got from the Scrapstore. You could use any curtain fabric you have.   

If you want to have a go, here are the links to a couple of pages I wrote about how to make them.
Make your own shopping bag, from October 2013.
Shopping bags and food, from February 2015

If anyone wants to know more about the new rules, here is an article on the Gov.uk web site.

There's only a month to go, but you can start preparing now. It's a good idea to get into the habit of putting your shopping bags back in the car as soon as you have emptied them, that way you won't forget them next time you need them. If you don't go shopping by car, maybe a bus, or bicycle, or walk, find a place to keep your bags close to the front door, so you remember to pick them up before you go. Have you got a cupboard or a shelf, or hang them on the coat rack by the handles. What you could also do is stick a post it note on the inside of your front door to remind you to take them, until you get into the routine of always picking them up before you leave.

You might want to have a few different types of bags for different types of shopping. If you take a handbag to work you could have a thin nylon bag which folds up very small and fits into your handbag. You could have different sizes of bags, the smaller ones fitting inside the largest bag so you only have one to carry to the shop. A mesh type bag would be useful to carry your veg in then if it has any dirt on it won't contaminate any of your other shopping. You might need a smaller box type bag which is very strong to take the weight of the tinned food. Or a large lightweight bag for the cereal boxes and bread.

Start collecting your bags now so you are ready, and get in the habit of always taking them with you. Then you will never be caught out and have to pay for carrier bags.

Thanks for popping in. Toodle pip