Seems I was wrong on packing bags, after all

Some customers after shopping from a supermarket in Nakuru. PHOTO | SILAS KIPLAGAT | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • I was complaining about the deterioration of customer service since the plastic bag ban last year.

  • I wondered why supermarkets and other retailers were no longer giving their customers packing bags.

 I have been writing for a while now and have come to expect almost anything from readers. In the course of my work, I have been called names, I have been ridiculed and I have been asked why I can’t write like so-and-so. There are those who are cordial in their criticism and disagreement though. These take the trouble to explain, in polite language, why they don’t agree with me.

I have also received thumbs ups and encouragement from those who resonate with what I write, those that identify with the personal experiences and observations that I share from time to time. Many have also laughed or chuckled with me, while many others have gone on to share their stories with me.

All these reactions, positive and negative, come with the territory. As a writer, just as you bask in the warmth of praise, you learn to take the missiles, too, because not all will agree with your point of view.

Well, I got an avalanche of e-mails following what I wrote about last week. If you missed it, I was complaining about the deterioration of customer service since the plastic bag ban last year.

PACKING BAGS

I wondered why supermarkets and other retailers were no longer giving their customers packing bags, I mean, it was the least they could do to show their appreciation for being chosen over their competitors, wasn’t it?

It turns out that many of you did not agree with me, hence the many missiles that were propelled my way. I must say that they hit home and got me rethinking my dissatisfaction. I am also thankful that the missiles were cordial, and that the launchers went to great lengths to explain why they felt my argument had rubbished one of the most important measures the country has ever taken.

I took the liberty to publish two of the e-mails I got for the sake of the readers who agreed with me last week. See whether they inspire a change of mind.

 Dear Carol,

I am an avid reader of your column and usually find myself applauding your commentary as it is spot on. This time, however, your article that faults establishments for not giving free bags astounds me. One of the best environmentally friendly decisions this country has ever made was to ban plastic bags and ask us to carry our own. The bags sold in supermarkets now may not be plastic but they are hardly as biodegradable as paper. If as a customer every time I go to the shops I am given a free bag these will soon be scattered all over the landscape just as plastic bags were. You and I have a role to play in sustainable resource use and environmental conservation. When stuff is free we don’t value it. Carry and reuse a bag. Twenty bob is a fitting punishment for not doing so.

Karen Nyangara

 

Dear Ms Njung’e,

Allow me to respond to your article today about why supermarkets no longer give out free packing bags.

1. My understanding is that supermarkets (and shops) are mandated by National Environmental Management Authority to charge for packing bags. 

2. The plastic bag ban has two objectives. The first is obvious. The second is to reduce waste whether plastic or otherwise. You may agree that there’d be little point in reducing plastic waste only to replace it with another source of waste. That this is possible is evidenced by the fact that you admit to having “quite a number of recyclable bags at your home” – wastage really.

3. Therefore, a cost on packing bags is aimed at reducing unnecessary waste. I hope this response will challenge you to see and communicate the vital neccessity of controlling our waste problem as a country. We are where we are because we have allowed a culture of waste to develop to the detriment of our society and environment. The charge on packing bags is a small but effective measure to try and stop this.

W Ngige

 

To drive her point home, Valerie of Shimoni Aqua-ventures Ltd, based in Diani, sent me a lovely shopping bag made from colourful kanga, which she hoped I would use to carry my shopping with from now on. Instead of whining about not getting free bags whenever I go shopping. Disclaimer: the last sentence is mine!

Here’s to a waste-free country!

 [email protected]; Twitter: @cnjerius. The writer is the editor, MyNetwork, in the Daily Nation