Angry supermarket customers have stolen baskets, loaded full trolleys into their car boots and even harassed checkout staff over the recent plastic bag ban in Woolies and Coles.
But now one frustrated shopper has taken the biggest swipe yet at the ban, by reportedly listing a “used” plastic bag on Ebay for a staggering $7,500.
According to the Mail Online, the ad appeared this week on the worldwide buying and selling site, under the title: “Vintage retro class Woolworths carrier bag.”
A photo of the ad, which since appears to have been taken down or sold, shows a crumpled grey bag on the floor. And even more shockingly, the seller added a $13.80 postage fee.
The same ad appeared on Gumtree, but two days later changed its status to “sold”. It’s not clear if someone coughed up the cash, or it was taken down by the seller.
It’s just the latest in a long line of angry reactions to the plastic bag ban, from both Woolies and Coles customers.
A Sydney man – whose bizarre yet inventive stunt to pack a whole trolley filled with groceries into his car went viral last week – recently spoke out about his idea, saying he’s actually doing others a favour and creating jobs.
Eddie Nahri, a professional drummer, last week shot to fame after posting a 17-second clip of his creative attempt to protest against the plastic bag ban brought in by major supermarkets around the country.
Read more: Man gives two fingers to supermarkets, loads entire trolley into car
“No bag, no problem, we’ll take the trolley, look at that in the car,” you can hear him say as he proudly shoves his loaded trolley into the back of his van.
Speaking on The Daily Telegraph’s Miranda Live podcast this week, Eddie said he wanted to send a clear message to Coles and Woolworths that it’s not right for them to charge for the bags.
“I’m saving the environment by taking the trolleys home, and then I just dump it back on the street, I’m creating jobs.”
However, not everyone agrees with the angry reactions, and now The Project‘s Waleed Aly has weighed in on the debate during a conversation on air with guest panellist Natarsha Belling.
“I spoke to my local Woolworths lady about the plastic bag situation, now they’ve replaced it with the heavy duty plastic bags that next week they are going to charge 15 cents for each customer. Are they biodegradable?” she asked.
“Does it matter?” Aly reportedly replied.
Read more: Checkout workers reveal shocking extent of ‘abuse’ over plastic bag ban
“It does matter,” Belling added, “because if we are going to go with no plastic, let’s get rid of all the packaging then on all the fruit and vegetables — what do you put your fruit and vegetables in?”
It prompted Aly to remind the viewers at home why the ban was introduced in the first place.
“Sure if you want to make that argument fine,” he said. “But the bags themselves that they sell – sure I get it would be better if they were selling biodegradable bags – but the point is not that.
“The point is the charge, so that you stop buying them, so it’s designed that you stop buying them eventually.”
Supermarket giants Woolworths and Coles both recently implemented the ban on free plastic bags and are instead charging customers for reusable bags if they forget to bring their own with them.
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