No Bag? Then I'm not buying
Liew Hanqing, The New Paper 6 Jun 08;
SHE has been scolded by customers who were asked to donate 10 cents for each plastic bag on Bring Your Own Bag day.
Worse, this cashier at NTUC FairPrice at Bishan Street13 says some customers even walked out without paying, abandoning entire trolleys of groceries at the counter.
'We would realise they were not coming back only after a long time,' recalled the cashier who asked not to be named.
'By then, the (cold) foodstuff had already melted.'
The campaign, which kicked off last April, encouraged customers to shop with reusable bags every first Wednesday of the month.
Since then, it has been extended to every Wednesday of the month.
And while she has met some environmentally-conscious shoppers, she says there are far more who just don't care.
'Some customers scold us when we tell them they have to pay. They forget it's Bring Your Own Bag day and buy a lot of things, and are upset that they have to pay for more bags,' she said.
She added that cashiers have been told not to force customers to donate because it is supposed to be voluntary.
'If they ask for bags excessively, like double-bagging, then we'll remind them it's Bring Your Own Bag day and remind them to be environmentally conscious,' she said.
She added that some regular customers have simply stopped shopping on Wednesdays altogether.
Most shoppers at Carrefour's Plaza Singapura outlet seemed unaware that it was Bring Your Own Bag day yesterday.
Similarly, the campaign seemed muted at NTUC FairPrice's Sun Plaza outlet. There were no posters highlighting the campaign and donation tins for the plastic bags were not prominently placed.
Mr Soh, 34, who was shopping there for groceries, did not bring a reusable bag to the supermarket.
Asked if he felt the campaign was a good idea, he said: 'It's up to the individual's preference. For me, I don't carry bags all the time, so it is quite inconvenient.'
Other shoppers whom The New Paper spoke to echoed this sentiment.
Mr Subramaniam, 75, a retiree who was shopping at Cold Storage at Compass Point, said he finds it a chore to remember to bring a reusable bag.
He said: 'I hope the supermarkets scrap this idea and that things will go back to normal. I need these plastic bags to put my trash in.'
Ms Esther Tan, a projects manager at the Singapore Environment Council (SEC) said customers should not feel like they need to avoid shopping on Wednesdays because the campaign is completely voluntary.
To help sales staff familiarise themselves, SEC has produced a training video on how to interact with customers on Bring Your Own Bag day.
She said: 'Retail staff play an important role in our campaign and we are grateful to those who have made the extra effort.
'It is certainly not an easy job for them.'
Additional reporting by Yeung Xintian, Teo Chin Ghee, Shila Naidu, Charissa Yong, Kelvin Chan, Vivien Chan and Melody Zaccheus, newsroom interns
