Starting Monday, April 6 US Military Commissary stores will begin charging 5 cents per plastic bags andc10 cents for paper.

Commissary stores already charge a 5% surcharge. In addition are the baggers, independent "employees" that bag and deliver your bags to your vehicle for tip money.

There are the Self Checkout lines, and they will count your bags before you total and pay.

The Defense Commissary Agency (DeCA) claims spending $17 million annually for plastic and paper bags.

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they will count your bags before you total and pay

Not much trust going on there.

I stopped shopping at the NAS / MCAS Miramar commissary many, many moons ago.

Was becoming:

A. The "volunteer" bagger option was no longer an option, even for the E-nothings who had no extra cash and,

B. Only those of a Filipino decent were allowed to volunteer and receive those optional tips.

Or just bring your own bags if you don't want to pay for their bags.

There are already other stores that have had this model for many years, including Aldi. Or warehouse clubs like Sams/Costco where bags aren't offered at all.

If this will help keep costs reasonable for our servicemembers and dependents, it's a relatively minor hassle.

After all, the bags weren't free before... They may not have charged you for them directly, but it was rolled into the cost of items to offset the additional overhead.

Wife and I bring our own reusable bags purchased off of Amazon. I off-load items onto conveyor, scanner does his/her thing, wife then bags groceries. Then load into collapsible bins in vehicle. Works very well.

The Yooper grocery gives me five cents off my bill for each personal bag I use.
Cha-Ching!

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but it was rolled into the cost of items to offset the additional overhead

And now that you have to pay for bags, I'm sure DeCA will roll those charges back OUT of the additional overhead.

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Originally posted by 229DAK:

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but it was rolled into the cost of items to offset the additional overhead

And now that you have to pay for bags, I'm sure DeCA will roll those charges back OUT of the additional overhead.

exactly what i was thinking ...no savings for you

I noticed that last Friday when I was at the commissary and to me its no big deal to pay a dime for a paper bag or 5 cents for a plastic bag but if that's to much for some people just bring your own bags which many shoppers already do. I save a significant amount of money shopping at the commissary as opposed to Giant, Acme or Aldi's so I'll continue to shop there.

We haven’t used the commissary for at least 20 years. It’s cramped, dirty, and had no consistency of products. Ok, things may have improved since our last trip there.
I also despised having to have one of the baggers bring my cart out to the car.

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I also despised having to have one of the baggers bring my cart out to the car.

You don't have to, but you'll sure get the stink-eye on the way out.

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Originally posted by 229DAK:

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I also despised having to have one of the baggers bring my cart out to the car.

You don't have to, but you'll sure get the stink-eye on the way out.

Its been a while. Before we stopped using them it was not optional, you couldn’t take your cart out yourself.

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Originally posted by SpinZone:

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Originally posted by 229DAK:

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I also despised having to have one of the baggers bring my cart out to the car.

You don't have to, but you'll sure get the stink-eye on the way out.

Its been a while. Before we stopped using them it was not optional, you couldn’t take your cart out yourself.

What commissary is this you're referring too? I've been to quite a few commissaries all over the US and have yet to be in one where you were forced to have your cart escorted to your car by one of the baggers. I always allowed them to bag my groceries but told them to put the bags in my shopping cart which they did and I wheeled my own cart to my car. I always tipped the baggers for bagging my groceries since the baggers don't receive a salary.

I am interested in the answer to calugo's question, too.

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Originally posted by calugo:

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Originally posted by SpinZone:

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Originally posted by 229DAK:

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I also despised having to have one of the baggers bring my cart out to the car.

You don't have to, but you'll sure get the stink-eye on the way out.

Its been a while. Before we stopped using them it was not optional, you couldn’t take your cart out yourself.

What commissary is this you're referring too? I've been to quite a few commissaries all over the US and have yet to be in one where you were forced to have your cart escorted to your car by one of the baggers. I always allowed them to bag my groceries but told them to put the bags in my shopping cart which they did and I wheeled my own cart to my car. I always tipped the baggers for bagging my groceries since the baggers don't receive a salary.

It was policy at both the Great Lakes and the Mayport commissaries. Supposedly for parking lot safety, but you could roll your own cart out of the exchange that shared the same parking lot. Great Lakes had one bagger who must have been 70 years old. I always felt like a fool, walking slowly to my truck so she could keep up.

Last year our local commissary stopped stocking bags and thus you had to take our own bags. What a pain in the ass. I greatly prefer paper bags as I reuse them for garbage bags in the house.

They started stocking them again a few months back.

I don't want to pay another surcharge for bags, just include that in the overhead and make them available. I can't stand toting around cloth bags everywhere just in case I need to stop at the store.

What I really don't get is how plastic bags became preferable over paper, as paper is much more biodegradable and is a renewable resource.

Paper bags only for me please.

They also have self checkout lanes and no restrictions about taking your own groceries out to the parking lot. I'll do the self checkout if it's just for a few things but if the wife and I are doing a big shopping we will use the regular checkout and let the baggers do their thing.

I haven't used a commissary since '92 or so. Ft. Knox had a pretty good one at the time. I got crossways with them over a hairy and dirty looking kid that was trying to bag my groceries. I asked for another bagger and told the checker it was because he was visibly dirty and nasty looking. The checker said "You can't offend him, he's an O-6's son!" I told her "I don't care, he doesn't look clean and I don't want him touching my food." We'd (MP's) already picked him up for shoplifting from the PX and a public intox and disorderly conduct calls. I stood my ground, got a new bagger, and didn't have a P-O'd Colonel raise a stink.

Ah Miramar...

Many moons ago we were in the checkout line. It was not uncommon, and not a problem, for one spouse to stay with the cart in line while the other picked up the last couple items. The couple ahead of us, enlisted man was doing the extra runs and his Philippine wife stayed with the cart. Their toddler took to sitting on the floor, not making noise or bothering anyone.

He came back, put something in the cart then jerked the baby up from the ground - could easily have caused a nursemaid's elbow, berated his wife and stormed of for more stuff.

I didn't expect much, but I told his wife that we both saw that and if either of us ever saw him behave that way towards the child or her again that it would be taken up with his C.O..

When he came back I was impressed that his wife did apparently (discreetly and quietly) tell him what I had said. He executed a quick-turn and our eyes met. He was ready to spout off, but I had my clear and controlled stare fixed on him.

Without a word he backed down and turned around and that was that.

I'm sure I'm fooling myself, but I like to think that maybe, just maybe, that moment began to lead him in a better direction.

I haven't shopped at a commissary since I got out of uniform, but this DeCA plan is no different than what happens if you shop at Aldi.

Ironically, I worked as a .mil contractor for 21+ years, and wasn't allowed commissary privileges while working on-base. The local commissary was always complaining that they needed more business. It would have been very easy for them to issue us contractors a commissary pass with a purchase limit, so we "wouldn't buy for re-sale", but easy isn't in the DeCA wheelhouse. JMHO.

So the new bag fee relies on the honor system in the self checkout lane. Once you finish scanning your groceries a screen comes up to ask how many plastic/paper bags did you used and you enter the number and its added to your total. If you're a thief it would be easy to avoid paying the bag fee since no one is standing over your shoulder making sure you enter the number of bags you used. Lots of people double bag when all they need is one bag so I can see why the commissary instituted this policy. I don't mind paying because spending an extra 60 cents isn't going to bankrupt me and I still realize significant savings shopping at the commissary.