[lucas2]

I work for one of the big two. I find that many of the people that complain about the bags being gone just don't understand the actual scale of usage and waste. My store (an average sized store) would go through 100,000-120,000 grey bags per week or 5.2 million + per year. When I explain the figures to the most resilient customers they are often shocked by the magnitude of bags.

Woolworths and Coles have a combined 1,800 stores across the country. When you do the maths on it, the amounts of bags being consumed is staggering.

Like a lot of people, I would use the grey bags for garbage at home. However, a large amount of people don't and either litter the bags or send them to land fill. I found many people took the bags for granted and I have had many people request bags when they are purchasing a single chocolate bar or gum. People will often place one or two bananas into a fresh produce bag and then request another bag.

The positive so far is the consideration people are now taking as to whether or not they really need a bag. Instead of putting out 10+ boxes of grey bags (1000 in each box), we are now doing 4-5 boxes (500 in each box) of reusable bags per night.

Even though there are many other wasteful aspects within these businesses, I do think this is a step in the right direction to reducing waste. We just need to find an environmentally friendly plastic alternative.

Also, you don't have to purchase the bags from the supermarkets if you are concerned that they are purely profiting off of them. There are many charities or stores that you can support by purchasing their bags. Or you can always ask for a box instead.