Quote:
Originally Posted by zipping
Out of interest what do you say about the fact that since the ban, sales are down and check out staff is up?
Are you concerned that profitability is down?
It blows me away that sooo many people just assume plastic is bad.
Fair enough.
But just consider for 2 seconds all the products the store you work for wraps in plastic.
You dwarf plastic bags with packaging
The only reason I'm responding to this post is looking at it from a business point of view, you seem to be OK with the business you work for taking a financial hit (maybe short term).
Call me crazy but that's super weird.
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Checkout staff were initially increased to cope with the reduction in packing speed and to help appease the customers who were upset with the change. It is definitely slower but staff seem to be increasing in speed and I don't think it impacts the overall sales too greatly (I could be wrong but it is still early). For the most part, my store's sales are ~12% higher than the same time last year when we did have the grey bags - My store continues to grow in sales despite the bag ban (the growth isn't attributed to sales of bags).
You're correct that a lot of the things in store are wrapped in plastic. I see it as a massive waste and a bigger problem than the shopping bags for sure. But there isn't a cost effective alternative for it that can be implemented on such a large scale. Customer bag change was the low hanging fruit the government and businesses could test the waters with - there are heaps of alternatives to plastic carry bags but not necessarily to food that must be sealed and sanitary.
People do assume plastic is bad. I can't see it as being good for the environment. It's only been around for a little over 100 years so the long term impacts are probably not well understood yet.
As much as I want the business to succeed and I work hard so that it does (as much as I can control it) I also don't value a short term cost to the company over what is going to be better for the community in the long term.
I'm by no means a "greeny", I just don't like unnecessary waste if it can be avoided. Ironic considering where I work, however at a store level we do pretty good at ensuring all of our plastic is recycled. Food wastage is probably the bigger issue.