Why does it seem that grocery stores don't offer a choice of paper or plastic?

Question

I'd much rather use a paper bag for my grocery shopping.
If you double bag them you can reuse them again at the store.
You can recycle paper bags much easier like using them for school text bookcovers (I did this when I was younger) & there are many more ways you could reuse the paper bags.
My point is this; It seems like more & more people use plastic bags b/c paper bags are no longer being offered.
Why don't they offer paper bags anymore?

I may be 26 but when I ask for a paper bag instead of plastic, the cashier (usually a younger person) looks at me like I have the plague!!
I live in the south as well & some places just DON'T have them anymore.
& Thank you very much for the idea about the cloth grocery bag!
& recently, I went to Wal~Mart & had aon old cloth gym bag to use for shopping. I was stopped by a security person before I got to the checkout b/c someone told him they had seen me stealing & then once I was at the register to checkout, the guy STILL bagged a few things in the plastic bags. I stopped him & he apologized & said "I guess I just got into the habit of using the plastic bags!"

It's a crazy place, this thing called world, that we live in.

Answer 1

They stopped asking because about 98% of the people given the choice, chose "plastic". It got to be a redundant question so they figured they'd just stop asking. The few people that really wanted paper could ask for it.

Answer 2

Paper bags cost more than plastic bags to produce...that is the bottom line. Most supermarkets do have paperbags, you just need to ask for them.
Please do not get angry at the cashier for not offering you a paper bag. They are instructed to bag everything in plastic unless otherwise requested by the customer.
Some supermarkets also have rules about how many items the cashier is supposed to fit in a plastic bag. One store in particular wants and average of 8 items placed in the bag.
I personally prefer my groceries in paper and plastic. You can fit more items in the bag this way, meaning less bags to carry in total. Paper in plastic seems to insulate my frozen items better in the summer time, and keeps glass jars or cans from banging around or rolling out of the bag if packed properly.
I reuse most of my paper in plastic bags until they are no longer reusable. And every time I bring my bags back to the store for my next shopping trip, I get credited 3 cents per bag. When the bags are no good for groceries anymore, but still usable, I use them for perishable trash such as meat bones/scraps, or other ewwwy stuff that I don't want hanging around the kitchen for long. This bag then gets sealed up and straight to the garbage cans outside until trash day.

Answer 3

Its because its cheaper for them to use the plastic bags. I was a cashier for many years. When I first started we would say paper or plastic? Towards the end of my time as a cashier we were taught to say Is plastic ok and not even offer paper. I would still request them, funny looks or not if thats what you want.

Answer 4

I have found that most grocery stores have them you just have to ask ~~ I have decided to shop most often where I know that the paper is aviable ~~ Also I have made cloth ones that the paper will fit into and feel this is of futher help~~ Just take a paper bag and open it up and use for the pattern ~~ You can use anything that you have around that you don't use any longer that is a heavier fabric ~such as old curtains and anything denim which is a great faric to use~~~Thanks for being a conserve~ing kind of person ~~

Answer 5

I live in the south and our grocery stores do offer a choice of paper or plastic. You would not believe the people who would rather have plastic over paper though. I think it is because we are running out of trees so fast that plastic is so readily available and paper is becoming a thing of the past. We have paper mills here and wood is becoming a shortage. I like paper bags myself also. There are so many things you CAN do with them. Keep asking maybe they will supply them for you.

Good luck...paper lover

fishineasy

Answer 6

Our grocery store asks if plastic is Okay. They no longer ask me because I use canvass bags. They are very strong and hold loads of stuff. No more plastic for me. I always put them back in the car after using so I will have them the next time.

Answer 7

At one of my local family-owned grocery stores, they will actually give you a discount if you reuse paper bags from their store. Another local grocery store sells cloth bags, and if you use their cloth bags they give you an even more significant discount. Some people are trying to help out, but most only see dollar $ign$.

Answer 8

You do have to ask. But honestly, paper isn't even that enviromentally conscience. The best thing is a reuseable cloth bag. I bought five big cloth bags and when I unload my buggy, I put the bags in the carts and simply put the groceries in them. I can get a whole load in them and it saves trips from the car into the house to unload. It sounds like it would be really heavy, but its really not when you think about how many bags you usually carry at one time. Or get more bags. These are reusable indefinitely.

Answer 9

I would prefer that the grocery store offer food rather than paper or plastic. Just a personal weirdosity, I guess.

Answer 10

I know that sometimes they don't offer them, but they seem to still have them. A lot of the times I still even get offered. I usually shop online and don't get them in bags. Then again they have to drive me my food - but I think of it as carpooling for groceries :) I would have to drive there and back, as would a bunch of other people - this way one bus (or truck I guess) is the only driving.

Most grocery stores now have recycling efforts for the plastic bags. You just bring them back to the store and the company recycles them for you!