Last week i got sms from star bazaar saying that “Now star bazaar will charge RS 1-4 on the plastic bags, So please bring along your bags with you while shopping”. This rule is imposed by the government to help restrict the use of plastic bags. There are very mix reaction about this rule as some are happy and some says that wont be helpful.
Do you really think that charge on plastic carry bags will make a huge difference ? I don’t think so, cos even i am of the second opinion firstly as this rule is only imposed on Shopping malls and not applicable to local shops. As compare to the Mall going people , people shopping in local shops is drastically high. Secondly, families/individuals who do shopping in malls normally spends thousands and wont mind spending extra 5-10 Rs for a plastic bag. Few families / people who do there monthly shopping in Big Bazaar / Star Bazaar / More or any such stores will think twice before paying for plastic as they are budget oriented people. This charge is directly or indirectly going to help the company as they will be selling 50 Paisa bag for Rs. 5-10 .
If the Mall charges a bit higher say around 30-40 Rs per bag then that will hurt the customer and next time while coming to shopping he will bring carry bags with him. I am sure these big shops will later come up with offers like shop for “X” amount and dont pay for the bags. By an ways the shops are going to get the profit and they wont be serious about the environmental issues. If government really want to save the environment then they should have ban the plastic bags and should encourage paper/ cotton bags. Even if someone forgets to bring the bag he wont mind spending 10 rs for a cotton bag.
Some good marketing stuffs like return a bag and get discount on your purchase will encourage people to return it the next time they come for shopping. In this way shops will retain the customer plus will also help in preventing the environment. And this can work with both plastic and cotton bags. Both can be the reused or recycled depending on their condition. Hope government take some serious steps in banning plastic bags before its too late. But i know our government can never be serious about this so hope the mall community handle this issue and bans use of plastic carry bags and promote cotton bags.
Sad but true it is.Solution suggested is really nice.