Comments on: Apple retail keeps it green during fire sale

By: aboutjack

aboutjack — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 12:39:43 +0000

I went to our local Apple store Saturday and asked for the new mini USB keyboard, picked up an iPod cable, a software product, a Mighty Mouse, and a set of earbuds… purchased, asked for a bag, was refused (with an explanation). Since I was in a mall, and had no intention of (a) leaving the mall then, (b) continuing to shop while idiotically juggling an armload of stuff, or (c) leaving my stuff there at the wrong end of the mall (requiring a return trip prior to leaving), I explained myself and cancelled the transaction. I offered to pay for a bag, but could not do so. Stupidity… true stupidity, folks.

By: nat

nat — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 01:14:30 +0000

@Dorotea,

I see your point, though you’d have to be carrying quite a few little items to justify a bag, right? I have nothing against plastic bags and if Apple’s encouraging its customers to bring in their own bags, I doubt they’d care what material it was (as long as it’s not copper-lined, or whatever material would stop those security tag readers).

By: nextcube

nextcube — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 05:29:56 +0000

Aldi Foods – the grocers – have been doing the “pay fer yer bags” thing for a long time. The bags they sell are actually heavy-duty, high-quality, super-reusable bags (Aldi bags DON’T scream ‘mug me’! :), and you have the option of grabbing cardboard boxes that the store would otherwise recycle to load your purchases into. A win all around, and my personal favorite way to address the issue.

By: Dorotea

Dorotea — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 04:04:53 +0000

@Nat,
Encouraging me to bring in a bag is fine. Charging me for the bag is also fine (other retailers do, I guess). Denying me the ability to bundle my items for carrying is nonsense. If Apple doesn’t like plastic bags, they should come up with a more economical or “green” solution than to expect me to carry my own bag. (Other stores don’t really want you to traipse through their stores with empty bags — too close to shop lifting)

Btw, plastic bags make great carriers for lunches. They are great for trash (waste mgmt co requires plastic bags be used). They are also great for bundling items for charity donations.

The local grocery store also recycles plastic bags.

By: nat

nat — Sun, 08 Mar 2009 20:21:55 +0000

Meant to add that that’s what the crook of my arm is for. ;)

By: nat

nat — Sun, 08 Mar 2009 20:05:50 +0000

I can’t quite see Apple sending an employee to help me carry small items to my car.

Right, so you’d leave your purchased stuff at the counter, then when ready to leave, take as many of the little items as you could on your own and ask for assistance with the rest or…bring your own bag, which is what Apple (among other retailers) is encouraging you to do. Personally, I’ve never walked around any electronics store with a plastic bag while shopping and most don’t have shopping carts.

By: Dorotea

Dorotea — Sun, 08 Mar 2009 16:58:58 +0000

Way to much “One Size Fits All” policy. Its unrealistic to offer no bags, especially if multiple small items are bought. Apple needs a way to bundle products together in a way that makes them easy to carry and tells store personnel at the mall that the product has been purchased. Eliminating a plastic bag means that there needs to be an alternative method.

I can’t quite see Apple sending an employee to help me carry small items to my car.

What a put-off.

P.S. From what I know , most Apple computer hardware packaging comes with built in handles on the boxes. THis is more than adequate. Its the smaller items that are the problem.

By: gus2000

gus2000 — Sun, 08 Mar 2009 08:07:54 +0000

…except that walking around town with an Apple bag screams “please mug me”.

By: droughtquake

droughtquake — Sun, 08 Mar 2009 06:18:53 +0000

As a ‘Team Member’ at Target, I have some ‘Guests’ who bring in their own bags (some reusable bags are easier to fill than others), some who refuse any bags at all (a very, very small number), and a few who insist on wasting bags (demanding double-bagging, insisting on excessive bags for no realistic reason, or request bags for items that do not need them).

I understand when frail people wish to have heavy items split among more bags. But if you drive so recklessly that you think you need a plastic bag to contain liquid detergent that you think is going to spill out of a tightly sealed jug, you have bigger problems to worry about! (Besides, a plastic grocery bag won’t contain a soap spill.)

The trend is up on BYOB, but a stubborn few flagrantly ignore reality.

By: qka

qka — Sun, 08 Mar 2009 01:02:40 +0000

The mantra of the green movement is “Reduce, Reuse, Recycle”.

While it is a good thing that Apple is attacking the problem at the start with “Reduce”, I was awfully fond of the “Reuse”, carrying other stuff in an Apple Store bag around town. When it was no longer usable, I would recycle.

I guess Apple figures that the marketing boost from having people reuse their bags in other settings is no longer needed.