apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

Noticed this back in March here in Philly as well. It's sad because I use to use them as trash bags since they were so sturdy (and free!). I guess I'll resort to using Trader Joe's paper bags for trash now.

Here in Europe, they charge you with 2 euros a bag - since 2001 or so.

they should just do what costco does and provide packing boxes for loading up the smaller items. when you get home, just collapse the boxes and put them out in the recycling. i'm sure ikea recycles their cardboard, but that way it would get reused first and save everyone.

For the privilege of having an Ikea here, I'd gladly suck up paying 99 cents for bags. We have to pay for bags at the Aldi's and Save-a-Lot anyhow. Don't gripe. At least you have Ikea.

whoa, is that leigh bowery in that picture? hehe

I think it's a great move. I use my bag for carting dry cleaning, mailorder returns, and farmers' market purchases.

Be careful not to overstuff it, though -- carting too-heavy shoulder bags can really strain your muscles. Wish they offered a back-pack version (Ikea, are your reading?)

I bought great reuseable shopping bags that I use for the majority of my shopping now. I estimate that is about 10-15 fewer bags I would have piling up in my house. Even with reusing regular shopping bags for trash liners or old newspapers, we were inundated and couldn't keep up.

I got mine at reuseablebags.com and they have a lifetime warranty. Many of the stores I shop at give me a credit for bringing my own bag--I think Whole Foods gives 10 cents a bag.

Ikea are european, and its relatively common to have to pay for bags in europe. In ireland and the UK you have to provide your own bags for all grocery shopping, or pay for fabric bags. Everyone always carries a bag, and there has been a noticeable drop in rubbish. I'm amazed at how backwards things are in the US....

Sadly, here in the UK we haven't yet followed Ireland's example - they still dole out free plastic bags at most supermarkets. There's definitely a feeling of chnage in the air, though. Most supermarkets also offer a 'Bag for Life' scheme, whereby you pay for an extra sturdy bag and they replace it when it disintegrates.

In Iceland, every store charges for bags. It encourages people to recycle and bring their own bags. I'm delighted to hear that Ikea is doing that here, too.

Customers pay for bags whether the store "charges" for them or not... it's reflected in the price of the goods. What I dont like is stores providing less service and creating more hassle for their customers in an effort to influence their behavior. I don't want stores to try to influence my behavior. Put the item in a bag and hand me the bags with the items in them when you're done. Keep creating all this extra hassle for people and they'll want to shop elsewhere.

San Francisco has banned plastic bags in larger supermarkets and pharmacies. Don't know when that will translate to the ubiquitous pink plastic bags in Chinatown.

I think it's great! I hope this is all is the beginning of the end of the free plastic bag in the US!

every store should charge for bags.

I second www.reusablebags.com. It has some great compact shopping bag alternatives.

I don't buy it. There are many ways that Ikea could make the world a greener, better place - charging for plastic bags seems an odd place to start. Whats next - shall we be charged $5 for each employee interaction (the better to guarantee a living wage for the Ikea worker...). While the Ikea store may be a humble place, the organization is anything but destitute. The Kamprad family is the 4th RICHEST in the world - worth north of $30 Billion (yes - thats a B). There is a lot more they could do (how about starting with the product line) - and with that much stashed in the bank, why the baby steps? Improving the bottom line by reducing service and wrapping it up in a big green ribbon is a gimmick you should expect to see from a multitude of big corporations in the coming months and years.

When Coca-Cola claims their smaller packaging options are ecologically driven, I laugh... it's just way to charge more for their shelf space, and fit more product on it.

But when Ikea does something like this, I believe their meatballs are in the right place, since I've always actually found a responsible-consumption and green element to their approach.