Plastic bags

[felt-tip]

Weird innit. They don't do it in Londis I can tell you that.

[Mac]

Surely one has the right to fulminate on a shop/restuarants website feedback form in private?

All this forum business started in response to g&b publishing my message verbatim on their blog. Clearly they can do what they like, but I get the impression if I'd written a similary sarcastic message to argos about queueing times or whatever, no-one would give a monkeys. Many of you have a good relationship with the shop and I can understand you being defensive. To me as a very infrequent visitor it is "just another shop" who should be able to deal with the odd cranky customer.

There's absolutely no need for g&b to apologise on the forum, as far as I'm concerned it should never have seen the light of day in the first place.

Or are all irate emails fair game for blog publishing?

tomchance Wrote:

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> Personally I much prefer carrying one out wrapped

> in paper with no bag, it makes life much easier

> when you reach the bench :)-D

>

> Can't Mac and others who fulminate about their

> right to plastic bags just go to another shop?

[giggirl]

Tara Wrote:

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> Giggirl - so anyone who dares to air a frustration

> on the forum gets branded as nasty and vile huh? I

> didn't see anything in the op that I thought was

> nasty or spiteful but it's all getting that way

> now.

Here you go Tara

"I have heard people say Green and Blue are "up themselves" before, but this was the first time I had experienced it first time."

This is a public forum. That is a vile and nasty thing to write about a local business on a public forum. That is not airing a frustration; it's name calling.

[Jeremy]

giggirl, it has to be put into context. If I felt somebody had been rude to me (as the OP obviously felt), then I would probably respond with something similar. It doesn't seem disproportionate to me, let alone vile.

But G&B have apologised, and have obviously done all they can on this thread to diffuse the situation... and have taken suggestions on board. So I don't think there's much more to add.

[randombloke]

Many years ago (1984 to be precise) I worked for Oddbins and I recall our policy of charging a princely 3p for a carrier bag would cause all kinds of apoplexy in some customers. We used to get all the "I'm giving you free advertising, it's bad for the environment, I've just spent ?40 on Scotch and you charge me 3p for a bag you could give away" argument etc. We turned bags inside out, gave away paper bags that were useless, shockingly overrang a purchase by 3p etc etc, the whole thing drove us mad. I can see both sides of the argument here but dirty washing should be washed in private IMHO. A private dialogue often obviates the need for a public slanging match. Whilst I was there I was told that it was illegal to sell alcohol to the off-trade unless it was wrapped up or carried in a container, hence the tissue paper wrapper. I don't know if that is still true but that's the reason why.

[felt-tip]

I thought it must be a hangover from some old law. Now its like a mark of distinction at a decent wine shop. I wish they did do it at londis though - hide my blossom hill.

[louisiana]

I'm quite happy with G&B's position. It's clear. I always make sure I have some local cloth bags (East Dulwich SNUB; Crystal Palace cinema campaign etc.) when I head down to the bottom end of the Lane.

I have also learned not to try and buy wine from G&B on my way back from the airport (when there is no way I'd have any space or bag for anything - I returned last night with around 25kg of goodies from Bilbao, and an extra box with wine would have been out of the question).

[katie1997]

I think it needs shops to take a hardline to genuinely change our habits

Interesting points and in general, perhaps shops can/will only try to change consumer behaviour up to a point (and good on G&B for doing so where they can).

I adore french wines but I also think there are some good english wines out there now but ... if other wonderful wines from far-flung places are available to purchase, its inevitable that people will want to try those too because they can. So it will take much more of a shift to remove/reduce consumer demand for products from afar that can have environmental impacts.

[Narnia]

Well, I'd like to thank all concerned especially legalbeagle as I've now collected a nice bottle of red thanks to this thread.

[legalbeagle]

Hope you enjoy it Narnia - Happy Christmas!

[paragon]

OP - suggest no holiday in Italy for you for a while.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/dec/30/italian-shops-bin-plastic-bags

[DaveR]

Self righteous retailer + self righteous customers = East Dulwich harmony. I don't shop in G&B and I'm even less likely to now.

[????]

To be fair to G&B they are only branding themselves approriately to the liberal greenlites of SE22. Many of the big grocery retailers are just doing this to save money under the convenient excuse of 'greenery'.

As all realists know - sell the car, don't buy ANYTHING that's air freighted and never fly again and save energy for all but neccessities, so for eg stopp p1ssing about online but in the meantime recycling old bags and turning the lights off once a year for an hour can delude the deluded

[indiepanda]

I think they should follow suit and ban single use carrier bags here - would save shops from having to justify themselves. I've got quite used to places like Holland and Barratt not having plastic bags and if I've forgotton to bring one of mine I quite cheerfully pay up for a paper one. Reminds me to be more careful next time.

[RosieH]

What Quids said, except to add that, speaking as someone who used to work for a big retailer, the one I worked for didn't even do it to save money, but just to appease its greenlite customers who opine about carrier bags while still insisting on eating asparagus out of season and blueberries from Chile.

[SeanMacGabhann]

So Rosie and quids, you don't recycle anything at all because that would make you green-lite?

[brum]

DaveR Wrote:

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> Self righteous retailer + self righteous customers

> = East Dulwich harmony. I don't shop in G&B and

> I'm even less likely to now.

How to make friends and influence people, by DaveR.

Luckily for Dave there are plenty of shops in harmonious East Dulwich to suit everyone's taste.

[DaveR]

There are plenty of shops (in ED and elsewhere) that don't patronise their patrons, and then publish it all on their blog.

[SeanMacGabhann]

Given that the blog named nobody what was the harm in it?

And given the hostility of the op, and the pretty good response from g and b on here I'm struggling to see why people still have a beef with them

[RosieH]

Sean you feisty devil. Of course I'm green-lite. I haven't given up holidays abroad and I like too many shoes and I eat meat. But I don't have pets or children, so it's probably ok.

[indiepanda]

???? Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> As all realists know - sell the car, don't buy

> ANYTHING that's air freighted and never fly again

> and save energy for all but neccessities, so for

> eg stopp p1ssing about online but in the meantime

> recycling old bags and turning the lights off once

> a year for an hour can delude the deluded

That seems a bit of a black and white interpretation - either you are green or you aren't. I see it as a sliding scale - I know I could go further than I do in my green attempts, but I figure (to quote one of my least favourite retailers) every little helps. Perhaps I am deluded, but I reckon if everyone like me gave up trying it would make a difference.

[????]

I do, because it's pretty easy and/or forced on me. Things like composting I do 'cos I quite like gardening and this is part of it. These gestures have bugger all effect on the potential environmantal catastrophe approaching so, having light bulbs that are crap and not getting freebags at shops so that politicians, retailers, Brussells and smug greenlites can say they are doing their bit whilst they jet off round the world, eat out of seasons food at home and in restaurants etc gets on my tits. It's futile gesture, I'd rather go down with the band playing.

[SeanMacGabhann]

Man am I glad you're not the pilot of my plane heading for a crash landing.

[brum]

SeanMacGabhann Wrote:

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> Given that the blog named nobody what was the harm

> in it?

>

> And given the hostility of the op, and the pretty

> good response from g and b on here I'm struggling

> to see why people still have a beef with them

Absolutely agree with you Sean.

[????]

I'd be dishing out champagne, you'd be making us all put our lifebelts on