Letter: That’s enough of the charity plastic bags
Friday 25th June 2010, 7:00AM BST.
Letter: The escalation of plastic bags arriving through the door, here and presumably all over Britain, is wasting a good deal of oil (plastic), resources and manpower.
I have never seen any evidence of collection of full or empty bags, nor has anyone I’ve spoken to either. These “registered charities” are not all they seem either.
Only a small percentage of profit (if any) goes to the causes, which sound like genuine charities, to pull at the heart strings, but are they?
These plastic bags cause litter where not picked up from doorsteps and gardens. We and the mother-in-law received 10 last week. We now have years of supply of bags for our rubbish bins.
This waste should be stopped.
Mary Astley
Ellesmere
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Hear hear Mary Astley!
I have a carrier bag full of these charity bags – I use them for my waste bin etc., too.
On the times that I have put out a full bag it has been collected. But never has an empty bag been collected.
I think it’ll be difficult to stop this unsolicited baggage.
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I average about 4 a week pushed through my letterbox, maybe the councill should fine the delivers for litter as the empty bags are left outside
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Hear Hear!
I am sick and tired of having them shoved through my letter box too. I have a notice on my door requesting NO charity collections/junk mail and yet STILL these muppets continue to post them willy nilly without a care in the world. Enough already, do these fools not realise that the majority of us can hardly afford to feed ourselves let alone dish out stuff to charities. Try canvassing the private housing areas and estates instead – they have more money than us ordinary folk!
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I totally agree. We receive bags from the same two ‘charities’ and even though we never leave full bags for them, they persist in sending us new ones.
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Here! Here!
I too have a box full of these – must say I hadn’t thought of using them as rubbish bags though! GREAT idea!
I often leave empty ones along side those neighbours have filled.
I have also just “nabbed” a guy trying to deliver one to me – I made him have it back!
Sometimes we have several to be collected on the same day – does the rightful “charity” get them . . . AND we had one the other day for “supporting arms” – what the heck is that all about?
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OMG I scooped up all of mine yesterday from the corner of the front door and have received 27 bags in a four week period.
Dont get me wrong I am a charitable person and usually take items along to the local charity shop as and when required.
It is totally ridiculous for these people to think that you can constantly fill the bags, I would be living in an empty flat with no clothes at that rate!
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I agree! They never collect empty bags and sometimes don’t even collect bags if you do fill them. I am sick of getting more and more of these bags.
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When I’m having a clear out I quite appreciate a collection, as it’s easier than carting unwanted items into town.
However, as a parent of two small children, I really wish these people wouldn’t insist on delivering suffocation hazards through the door on such regular intervals.
In the past I’ve popped up to use the loo, to come back to find my toddlers stood by the door, waving a freshly delivered carrier bag about. I wonder if dog owners ever have similar problems with this.
Paper leaflets which can be attached to your own bag if you wish donate are a better option, as these can be recycled if not required.
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Think I am going to have to add an extra line to the sign outside saying please DO NOT delivery any charity bags to this address
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I GET LOADS TOO, BUT I DONT MIND, ONCE A YEAR I USE THEM TO RECYCLE A LOAD OF CLOTHES AND UNWANTED XMAS GIFTS BUT THE REST OF THE TIME AS THEY ARE PLASTIC BAGS I TAKE THEM ALL TO SAINSBURYS WITH MY CARRIER BAGS AND RECYCLE THEM ALL IN THE STORE WITH ALL MY OTHER PLASTIC FILM
SORTED
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I use them for taking my plastic bottles to the recycling centres.
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Do what I do – save them all up and then when their collection is due put out a bag with a single book or pair of shoes (and all the old unwanted plastic bags) in it. The collectors will pick them up thinking its full of stuff and hey presto you get rid of all the bags too!
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Unfortunately, there are now to many of these bags coming through the letterbox. Added to this, you don’t know which ones are genuine and which ones are being used by rogue collectors i.e. the recent Acorn Hospice fraudulent activity.
Therefore, if I do have anything for the charities I much prefer to take it to the shop directly. At least you know it is going to legitimate charity people.
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in the UK we landfill over a million tonnes of textiles every year!!! most of these would have been reusable, so people collecting them are doing us a good service helping keep stuff out of landfill, dont complain, after all a few plastic bags are insignificant compared to all the clothing we get through in a year
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if you look on the other blog you will see telford council collect all plastics now, why not in Shropshire Council then hey ??????
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the council in shrewsbury used to collect old clothes with the bottles and cans but ever since they went unitary they have stopped doing it so this is the route cause of the problem the council cuts have caused all this
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Don’t stress, just recycle them with the plastic bags in the bottle banks at the supermarkets they can all be recycled with the other plastics no problem they are LDPE which is the same type of plastic used for many bottles
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With all due respect to the Shropshire Star, its readers, and contributors, haven’t we covered this before?
A quick review of the archives would reveal that a painfully similar readers letter was used within the last year.
Are we readers this short of material to submit to the Shropshire Star? Surely there’s a music festival to bash, a school uniform skirt that is too short, an England team that has embarressed the nation that we can abuse, ….
Come on chaps let’s focus and do a bit better next time.
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good to recycle a story
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And it’s paperless on here, so more bonus points for recycling!
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If I’ve got old clothes I don’t want, anybody who will take them away and keep them out of landfill is welcome to them, I don’t care who they are or what they do with them.
Unwanted bags are no big deal, just use them as bin bags or chuck them in the plastics recycling skips, what’s the big deal?
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i agree with you well said
i dont care if the clothes are for profit or for charity so long as theyre not for landfill and plastic bags of all shapes and sizes can be recycled at sainsbury and virtually all other supermarkets
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These bags are driving me insane, I know I live in Castlefields, but why do I get so much junk?
If its not charity bags, then its Domino’s pizza leaflets, or various other menu’s.
When will people stop using my letter box as a garbage bin?
If I want to donate to charity, it will be the charity I CHOOSE. not one thrust upon me.
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who cares plastic bags are recyclable
just take them to sainsburys
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Same here, We usually get four a week on average. Harold Miller, your idea is great and I think the companies would at least get the picture as to how annoyed we all are!!!!!!!!!!
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