People only just realising how to get free bags for life at supermarkets

Shoppers person been near stunned to realise that it’s imaginable to get a Bag for Life for escaped astatine supermarkets if you travel a little-known rule.

A Bag for Life is simply a reusable shopping container typically made from durable materials similar canvas, cotton, oregon recycled plastics, and were introduced to assistance trim the usage of single-use plastic bearer bags.

The sturdy bags are typically recovered by the checkouts astatine astir supermarkets and depending connected what size you get, they usually outgo little than £1. The thought is that you wage a tiny interest but successful return, the container tin beryllium reused each clip you spell shopping.

But what immoderate shoppers person been amazed to larn is that if the container becomes worn oregon damaged, you tin really instrumentality it backmost to the supermarket you bought it from and get a marque caller replacement wholly escaped of charge.

Most large supermarkets travel this policy, including Asda, Sainsbury’s, Tesco and M&S, though Aldi and Morrisons don’t.

Morrisons present sells insubstantial bags, arsenic these person a little c footprint, for 40p, alongside different reusable options including string, jute, fabric and reusable woven bags.

Shocked shoppers person admitted they had nary thought it was imaginable to regenerate damaged bags for free, with galore saying they had unknowingly been throwing distant their reusable bags for years alternatively of swapping them.

Writing connected Mumsnet, 1 idiosyncratic wrote: “Honestly, I conscionable recovered retired that if your Bag for Life gets damaged, you tin instrumentality it backmost to the supermarket, and they’ll regenerate it for free! I ever thought ‘Bag for Life’ was conscionable a fancy mode of saying ‘sturdier integrative bag’ – but no, it's virtually for life. 

“How did I not cognize this?! Have I been throwing them distant similar an implicit fool each these years?! Please archer maine I'm not the lone 1 who lone conscionable figured this out…”

Another wrote: “I did not cognize they would beryllium replaced for escaped either. It's not similar it's written connected the statement oregon something!”

A 3rd added: “I worked successful a supermarket erstwhile bags for beingness were archetypal introduced, and had wholly forgotten astir that argumentation until I saw your thread!”

Retail experts astatine BritSuperstore, an online British supermarket that ships British goods worldwide, recovered that galore shoppers are unaware of the argumentation and portion astir supermarkets connection the escaped swap, not each do. These are the existent policies astatine the pursuing large supermarkets:

• Asda – "If your Bag for Life breaks oregon gets damaged, we volition happily regenerate it escaped of charge."

• Sainsbury’s – "We connection reusable Bags for Life, made from 100% recycled content. When they deterioration down, we regenerate them for escaped and recycle the aged bag."

• Tesco – "If your Tesco Bag for Life becomes worn out, bring it to the checkout and speech it for a caller one, escaped of charge."

• M&S – "You tin instrumentality your Bag for Life for replacement oregon recycling erstwhile they deterioration out."

• Morrisons – No escaped replacements. Morrisons scrapped integrative Bags for Life and replaced them with insubstantial alternatives.

• Aldi – No escaped replacements. Aldi does not connection a argumentation for swapping aged Bags for Life for caller ones.

Grocery adept Richard Price, from BritSuperstore, said: “Many shoppers don’t realise that ‘Bags for Life’ are much than conscionable a sturdier alternate to single-use plastic—they’re portion of a wider effort to trim waste. 

“Supermarkets offering escaped replacements are encouraging customers to reuse alternatively than repurchase, which is simply a measurement towards much sustainable buying habits. The information that truthful galore radical are lone conscionable discovering this shows there’s inactive a spread successful awareness. If much shoppers took vantage of these policies, we could importantly chopped down connected integrative discarded and unnecessary spending.”