Austin Bag Law - What to expect (shop, garage door)

[riaelise]

This is just for the lolz.

Yesterday I did shop in Austin at Toys R Us and purchased a bunch of toys. My husband kindly reminded me as I was loading up the cart that I was in Austin Anyway, when we got to the register, I saw the evil thin plastic bags situated on the side of the register. These were the same bags that were given away for free prior to the bag ban. I asked the clerk about the bags and she told me that if I wanted one, they were .10 each, and for a king sized one, it would be .30. Her and I were laughing at the situation because the store continues to stock plastic bags. The real winner is the retailer because now the consumer buys the bags and for bulky, non-grocery items, a large sized plastic bag is the most convenient. The formerly free bag is still there but it's now 30 cents each. Of course, it won't break your bank. it's just the principle of it all that a customer is now paying for a formerly free bag. It kind of feels like a tax of some sort.

Reusable bags don't help if you are purchasing things from non-grocery stores i.e. clothing stores, home improvement stores, home goods stores, places where items are bulky and take up space. For those places, large plastic bags are very useful. At one Austin home goods store, the clerk didn't even wrap the vases in protective covering, they simply stood at the register waiting for me to pick them up and put them in my cart. On the flip side, when I purchase the item at another store outside of Austin, the clerk wraps it up and puts it in a large bag.

Many retailers I think are capitalizing on the bag ban because it helps their bottom line since the consumer ultimately bears the cost of the bags. It seems as if the grocery bags are the ones the most vilified, so it would have been nice to ban just those bags but other, larger bags remain. Oh well. I also do a lot of my shopping online so the bag ban never really affected me other than being a minor nuisance.

[ATX Wahine]

I do most of my shopping online as well. I hate shopping. We don't even wrap gifts in this family unless it's a very very special occasion. We re-use gift bags so many times that it's become part of the fun, everyone trying to remember if they ever got a gift in THAT bag and who was the original bagger. We're not crunchy hippies, but we try to be environmentally aware of excess packaging, paper usage, the evils of plastic, etc. I despise seeing plastic bags wrapped in trees, fencing, etc. I belong to Surfrider Foundation and have seen the wonderful outcome on beach and waterway cleanup days. The amount of garbage collected is staggering.

On the flip side, I use paper towels in the kitchen - a complete contradiction to my overall low-paper philosophy. lol. I find cloth kitchen towels to be pretty unsanitary because everyone in the house will inevitably use them to wipe small spills, dry half-ass washed hands, etc then leave them on the counter. I reuse my HEB grocery bags like mad, though. Very rarely do I see one in "oh crap, that's gross" condition. I just chuck them when I do. That's probably only happened 3-4 times.

My sister and I both like to buy reusable bags as souvenirs when we travel. It's nice to whip out a Glacier National Park bag and have a reminiscent moment of "ahhh" in HEB when it's 100 degrees outside.

[Trainwreck20]

Originally Posted by CarnivalGal

[...]
I was talking to someone who manages a Randall's here in town. She said their shrinkage (i.e. shoplifting) has gone through the roof. People leave with things not in bags all the time, and it's nearly impossible to tell if they've all been paid for or not. People use their reusable bags to hold things while they shop, and they can't tell who's hiding things and who's not. The hand baskets stores have for people shopping for just a few things disappear at an alarming rate. People use them, then get to check out and find out they can't get bags, and they use them to carry to their car and then leave. Some stores, including some local Wal-Marts just gave up and got rid of them altogether. She said she wouldn't be surprised to see more stores follow suit.

I had heard that was a possible outcome, but had not thought about it since they first passed it. So I talked to the general manager on duty today when I went into buy a few things. He indicated that he was not aware of data specifically related to before or after, nor would he give any real numbers, but said that their product loss has been relatively flat for years. He would not 'fess up to whether their product loss was customer or employee, though, or else did not know .

[IC_deLight]

Originally Posted by Glenn Ross

You're going to have to form a new habit which is to keep empty reusable bags in your car. Here's how I cope:

1. If you shop at HEB, you can buy the reusable bags. You'll forget every now and again and they'll sell you a reuseable plastic one for .25, I think. They still have the plastic bags you're used to in produce. I bag all of my produce in those. I also use the same bags to bag meat. I never put meat directly into one of the reuseable bags.

2. Once every three or four trips, wash the bags. Take out the cardboard bottom if there is one and wipe it down with 409 or something similar.

3, Get in the habit of taking the bags back to your car when you've put your groceries up. This helps prevent forgetting them.

4. Always take one more bag than you need into the store. Chances are, you'll buy something on impulse and need it.

Consider forming this habit:
Shop someplace besides Austin....

There are plenty of HEBs and other stores that aren't in the city limits.

[Trainwreck20]

Originally Posted by IC_deLight

Consider forming this habit:
Shop someplace besides Austin....

There are plenty of HEBs and other stores that aren't in the city limits.

Yes, sure, I am going to drive miles and miles in traffic instead of going to the store a 1/4 mile away...

[Tams here]

Originally Posted by Trainwreck20

Yes, sure, I am going to drive miles and miles in traffic instead of going to the store a 1/4 mile away...

We do this every week. There is an HEB about 1/2 mile from me on Lakeline. I really don't like shopping there for various reasons, the bag ban being one. Instead, we go to Parmer/1431 which is 5 miles away. We go before the masses are out and about. It's just a better overall shopping experience. I don't feel like it's miles and miles of traffic or any inconvenience at all. Different strokes and all that!

[DCtoTejas]

The HEB's outside of Austin also have nice big parking spaces where you at least have a chance of not having your car dinged.

[CarnivalGal]

Originally Posted by Trainwreck20

I had heard that was a possible outcome, but had not thought about it since they first passed it. So I talked to the general manager on duty today when I went into buy a few things. He indicated that he was not aware of data specifically related to before or after, nor would he give any real numbers, but said that their product loss has been relatively flat for years. He would not 'fess up to whether their product loss was customer or employee, though, or else did not know .

I doubt they would disclose that information to a random customer. But my BIL happens to manage a Randall's here in town, so I am willing to bet that he would be more honest with me than the general manager on duty you spoke to.

There is always shrinkage. It's caused by 3 things: internal theft, external theft, and paperwork errors. All other factors are the same, so I think it's pretty safe to draw the conclusion that the large spike that happened at the same time the bag ban was implemented means they are related.

BTW, I'm not saying I'm against the bag ban. Just pointing out one of the side effects.

[CarnivalGal]

Originally Posted by Trainwreck20

Yes, sure, I am going to drive miles and miles in traffic instead of going to the store a 1/4 mile away...

Depends on where you live. I'm in Steiner and find myself going to the new HEB in Lakeway more and more. Usually when I'm running low on plastic bags. It's really not that much farther than the HEB at Four Points.

[Trainwreck20]

Originally Posted by CarnivalGal

I doubt they would disclose that information to a random customer. [...]

Well, we have known each other for about 15 years (long before he was even with HEB), but yes, he did not give me specifics other than it was not significantly different over the least few years.

Depends on where you live. I'm in Steiner and find myself going to the new HEB in Lakeway more and more. Usually when I'm running low on plastic bags. It's really not that much farther than the HEB at Four Points.

Oh, definitely depends on the specifics, but I am not even sure where the nearest HEB not in Austin is...Dripping Springs or the new one in Wimberley, maybe? I am guessing there are some south of Austin locations, but not sure where or how long to get there. Anyway, it would be spending a dollar to save a dime, literally

There is a Randalls in Westlake that I guess I could use on the (sort of) way home from work, but between the higher prices, extra traffic, and additional distance, it would likely be even worse.