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Scottish Sun
9 hours ago
- Business
- Scottish Sun
Best and worst bag fees from shops revealed as we name retailers charging YOU more
Scroll down to find out how to save money on your weekly food shop FEE FURY Best and worst bag fees from shops revealed as we name retailers charging YOU more Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) SHOPPERS are paying up to 566% extra for carrier bags based on where they shop. Research by The Sun has found differences are huge. Sign up for Scottish Sun newsletter Sign up 1 We've researched how much retailers charge for single-use and longer-life bags Credit: PA While Home Bargains charges 15p for a reusable bag, some retailers including Iceland and Waitrose charge £1 - an 85p difference. Health retailers Superdrug and Boots also charge £1 for longer life carriers. Retailers sell two types of bags - single use and reusable. Some shops have ditched selling single-use bags entirely, while others do have cheaper options for shoppers. We found the cheapest long-life bags on offer from Sainsbury's, Lidl, Tesco and Aldi cost 30p - and 70p less than some of its rivals. Since 2021, by law retailers have had to charge 10p per single-use carrier bag in a bid to reduce waste and help the environment - known as the plastic bag charge. The government estimated that in 2013 supermarkets gave out over eight billion single-use carrier bags to shoppers across the UK. But by 2023/24, the reduction in these bags dropped by 98% compared to 2014. The drop off in single-use bags has seen take up of long life carriers surge. However, consumer expert Martyn James has said customers being charged more for longer-life bags hints at profiteering by retailers. Shopping discounts - How to make savings and find the best bargains He said: "When the plastic bag charge was introduced, some grumbled, but at 5p a pop, it didn't break the bank. "A decade or so on and plastic bags come in at 30p a pop or more and many people I speak to feel there is blatant profiteering going on." We looked at the major supermarkets and retailers to see how much they charge for single-use and long life bags. Here's what we found. How supermarket bag costs compare All the major supermarkets don't sell single-use carrier bags apart from Co-op and Aldi which sell 10p compostable carrier bags. Co-op's bag, once used, doubles-up as a waste food bin liner, which can then be thrown away. Prices for these same supermarkets' longer-life bag options can vary significantly. Asda's Bag For Life will set you back 40p while Morrisons' paper Bag For Life is also 40p. Morrisons also sells plastic Bags For Life for 60p, and replaces any which are damaged for free. Lidl, Sainsbury's and Tesco's Bags For Life cost 30p. Aldi sells an Eco-Loop carrier reusable bag for 30p while its Bag For Life is 65p. Waitrose doesn't offer shoppers Bags For Life, however they can get thicker reusable bags from £1. Frozen food specialist Iceland's woven reusable bags cost £1. How other major retailer prices compare Boots sells a variety of different size single-use paper bags. Small bags cost 10p, medium bags 12p and larger carriers 20p. Shoppers can also buy a medium Boots Bag For Life for £1 or large size for £1.20. Discounter Home Bargains only sells reusable carrier bags, which cost 15p in Great Britain and 20p in Northern Ireland. Fashion retailer New Look charges customers 30p for its Bag For Life. Poundland's reusable bags start at 50p while it also has Bags for Life which start priced at £1. Meanwhile, Primark's single-use paper bags, which were previously free of charge, cost 15p and its reusable sacks cost from 80p. Ikea's most popular "FRAKTA" reusable bag starts from 50p while shoppers can buy a larger size for 75p. Health and beauty retailer Superdrug charges 15p for its single-use paper bags. It also sells a foldable reusable tote bag for £1. A Primark spokesperson said: 'Like most retailers, we now have a small charge for our paper bags. "Reducing single-use paper is one small step we and our customers can make to reduce waste. "We hope this encourages more shoppers to switch to re-usable bags." A Boots spokesperson said: "A Boots bag for life costs £1 for a medium size and £1.20 for a large size. "The bags are reusable and are made from 100% recycled bottles." A Waitrose spokesperson said its longer life bags are a different design to traditional longer life bags. They added: "They are a durable long term option which our customers have bags of love for - and we want them to last years." We asked Iceland and Superdrug to comment. How to cut the cost of your grocery shop SAVING on your shop can make a big difference to your wallet. Here are some tips from comparison site about how you can cut the cost of your shopping bills: Write yourself a list – Only buy items that you need. If it isn't on your list, don't put it in the trolley Only buy items that you need. If it isn't on your list, don't put it in the trolley Create a budget – Work out a weekly budget for your food shopping – Work out a weekly budget for your food shopping Never shop hungry – you are far more likely to buy more food if your tummy is rumbling – you are far more likely to buy more food if your tummy is rumbling Don't buy pre-chopped veggies or fruit – The extra they'll charge for chopping can be eye watering – The extra they'll charge for chopping can be eye watering Use social media – follow your favourite retailers to find out about the latest deals – follow your favourite retailers to find out about the latest deals Be disloyal – You may want to go to different stores to find the best bargains – You may want to go to different stores to find the best bargains Check the small print – It's always worth checking the price per kg/lb/litre when comparing offers so you're making a like for like decision as a bigger box won't necessarily mean you get more – It's always worth checking the price per kg/lb/litre when comparing offers so you're making a like for like decision as a bigger box won't necessarily mean you get more Use your loyalty cards – Don't be afraid to sign up to them all. They all work slightly differently – work out what bonus suits you better and remember to trade in your points for additional rewards Do you have a money problem that needs sorting? Get in touch by emailing money-sm@ Plus, you can join our Sun Money Chats and Tips Facebook group to share your tips and stories
RNZ News
16 hours ago
- Health
- RNZ News
Football Fern Betsy Hassett makes international return a family affair
FOR SATURDAY AFTERNOON PLEASE [wh] Football Fern Hassett makes international return a family affair Betsy Hassett wasn't expecting a national team call-up so soon after the birth of son Nói, Photo: Colombia Football Federatiion Nine months after the birth of her first child, midfielder Betsy Hassett is surprised to be back in the Football Ferns with the potential to add to her 157 caps for New Zealand. Hassett is one of five changes new head coach Michael Mayne has made for two games against world No. 51 Venezuela in Spain. The first game is at 4am Sunday (NZT). Playing semi-professional club football for Icelandic Premier Division club Stjarnan, a club she has been with since 2020, Hassett said, despite being in contact with Mayne since late last year, she was not expecting a call-up for this tour. All her club games were filmed, so Mayne knew what kind of form she was in, before he brought her into the squad. "I'm physically and mentally back, and I'm ready to go," Hassett, 34, said. Her return means she is joined by son Nói and partner Gummi on this tour. They are staying in an apartment in Spain, around the corner from the team hotel. When Hassett first played for the Football Ferns as a teenager, goalkeeper Jenny Bindon was the only mum in the team. Bindon is now a Football Ferns assistant coach and son Tyler is an All White . "That was a big inspiration for me back then, but I was not even thinking about [motherhood], I was so young back then," Hassett said. Former Ferns goalkeeper Jenny Bindon now has a son in the All Whites. Photo: Photosport Not every Football Ferns mum has found the balance possible. "There's been Hayley Bowden and she came back for maybe one tour, but it was a bit difficult," Hassett said of the midfielder who retired in 2015. "There was not really set-up for babies and family, so she had to give it up," "That's why I'm going to give it a go. Times are changing now, so it's really cool that this is actually a possible thing to do now." Re-joining the Football Ferns has meant getting introduced to the newbies and reacquainted with those players whom Hassett has played many games with. "There's definitely some new faces in the team, now I've been out for just over a year, so really enjoying getting to know a couple of girls I've never even met before," she said. "Then, of course, coming back in and meeting up with the likes of Stotty [Rebekah Stott] and Flea [Annalie Longo] and Ally Green and the older ones that I'm used to playing with has been amazing, and especially for them to just get to meet my little new son." Football Ferns line up to face Colombia. Photo: photosport After playing college football in California, Hassett has played club football around the world in Germany, England, Norway, Netherlands, Iceland and Wellington. The long Icelandic winters take some getting used to as a footballer, when training conditions can be "tough". "It's coming into summer, so it's getting brighter there very quickly. The days are really long and I'm looking forward to the summer, because it can be really long winters there. "It's nice to go away for a little break in the middle of the winter sometimes, just to get away and see some sun. It's actually really nice to have training in the winter, because it's something that makes you feel better. "Get out and run around and see your mates, instead of just being inside and in the dark all day." The Football Ferns' games against Venezuela will be the first time the two sides have faced each other at senior international level. "It's going to be a good challenge," Hassett said. "I think they'll be a really good team, strong team, so we're doing everything we can, and we're looking good and heading into the game so far. "Really excited to see what we can do." Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
RNZ News
21 hours ago
- General
- RNZ News
Proto: an ancient language, mother to many tongues
Photo: HarperCollins Thousands of miles apart, people who speak English, Icelandic or Iranic use more or less the same words: star, stjarna, stare. All three of these languages - and hundreds more - share a single ancient ancestor, spread by ancient peoples far and wide. Today, nearly half of humanity speaks an Indo-European language. But, Proto Indo European is a language that has been dead for thousands of years and was never written down. British science journalist Laura Spinney's epic tale Proto - How One Ancient Language Went Global retraces its steps. Spinney has written for the New Scientist, The Guardian and The Daily Telegraph. She speaks with Susie.
Scottish Sun
a day ago
- Scottish Sun
Four simple ways to cut the cost of your family camping trip this summer
Read on to find out how to save big on outdoor lines at B&Q SUN SAVERS Four simple ways to cut the cost of your family camping trip this summer Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) CAMPING is a great way to get away on the cheap. But camping gear, driving long distances and paying campsite fees can still soon add up. Sign up for Scottish Sun newsletter Sign up Pitch up for less with these simple tips. RENT A TENT: If it is your first time camping, ask friends if they have any equipment lying unused in their garage. If they can't help, you could rent instead of buy. Fat Llama has gear including tents and tables, while and ship all over the UK. If you want to buy, go second-hand from a site like eBay. STUDY SITES: Campsites can vary in price, so do your research to find more affordable options. There are plenty of free campsites, but make sure they are suitable for your needs. Websites like and let you filter by price. You can also join The Greener Camping Club for eco-friendly pitches in some stunning spots. UK's Premier Scottish Caravan Site: Camping & Glamping Gold Standard DRIVE DOWN COSTS: Transport costs can make a dent in your holiday budget, especially if you choose a campsite hundreds of miles away from home. To save on fuel, use the website which compares fuel prices across the UK. Avoid expensive motorway stop-offs and look for cheaper alternatives at You could even share a car with friends to cut your travel costs in half. FOOD FOR THOUGHT: Cook and freeze a meal before you leave home, then put this in a cool box with your other cooled foods and ice packs. It will help to keep your other fresh food cool and you'll save on an expensive takeaway or meal out. A cooler that plugs into the car socket can be a big help to keep essentials cold — just be careful not to drain the car battery. Take easy foods like dried instant pasta meals, noodles, pouches of rice and tins. All prices on page correct at time of going to press. Deals and offers subject to availability. 7 We have four savvy tips to cut the cost of your family camping trip this summer DEAL OF THE DAY 7 This cosmetic organiser display box from Debenhams is down to £17.50 Credit: Supplied KEEP your lotions and potions clean and tidy in this cosmetic organiser display box from down from £69 to £17.50. SAVE: £51.50 CHEAP TREAT 7 Get six lollies for a penny with a Bonus Card tomorrow at Iceland and The Food Warehouse Credit: Supplied SNAG six lollies for a penny with a Bonus Card tomorrow at Iceland and The Food Warehouse. The first 10,000 people to bag the selected ice lollies, normally £1.35, get the one-day, 1p deal. SAVE: £1.34 Charming choice NOT to be outdone by the most stylish fashion houses, Lidl has launched its own bag charms. For the chance to win one, search for the compe-tition at TOP SWAP 7 The White Company Flowers large candle is £65 Credit: Supplied 7 But this flat ribbed Floral Blanc hurricane candle is just £9.99 from Aldi Credit: Supplied IF you love The White Company Flowers large candle, £65, you could try the cheaper flat ribbed Floral Blanc hurricane candle from Aldi, £9.99. SAVE: £55.01 Little helper SAVE 20 per cent on many outdoor lines at B&Q including some barbecues. The Tehama black charcoal BBQ, which cooks for up to ten people, so is perfect for parties, is now down from £125 to £100. Shop & save 7 Get four British steak burgers from Sainsbury's for £3.50 with a Nectar card Credit: Supplied PICK up a pack of four British steak burgers from Sainsbury's for £3.50 with a Nectar card, instead of paying the usual £7. SAVE: £3.50 Hot right now COLLECT double Nectar points until Tuesday on Tu clothing at Sainsbury's – two points for every £1. PLAY NOW TO WIN £200 7 Join thousands of readers taking part in The Sun Raffle JOIN thousands of readers taking part in The Sun Raffle. Every month we're giving away £100 to 250 lucky readers - whether you're saving up or just in need of some extra cash, The Sun could have you covered. Every Sun Savers code entered equals one Raffle ticket. The more codes you enter, the more tickets you'll earn and the more chance you will have of winning!
ABC News
a day ago
- Entertainment
- ABC News
The best new books released in May, from Hannah Kent, Ocean Vuong and more
The hunt for a good book never ends. Thankfully, our ABC Arts critics have been busy reading through piles of new releases to find their favourites to share with you. In this month's Best Books column, you'll find a poetic critique of inequality and exploitation in America, a revealing memoir from one of Australia's most beloved authors about her formative experience as an exchange student in Iceland, and an exciting and "ridiculously funny" debut about a literary fraudster in the tradition of Helen Demidenko. Jonathan Cape American poet and novelist Ocean Vuong was born in Vietnam and moved to the US as a refugee with his mother. She — or a version of her — is the focus of his acclaimed 2019 novel, On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous. There are mothers and mother figures, absent fathers and refugee histories in his new novel, too, but The Emperor of Gladness is no repeat of his earlier work. Instead, we're taken into the heart of Gladness — East Gladness, to be precise — which is a place, in Cincinnati, rather than a state of joy or happiness. There's Vuong's playfulness, right there, because this is a town verging on a hellscape: depressed, post-industrial, poor, almost falling into the river. The novel opens in 2009 as a young man, Hai, is walking in the rain by that river, crossing the bridge, seriously contemplating jumping off and ending it all. Instead, he's stopped by an interaction with an elderly Lithuanian woman, Grazina, who invites him into her house. He ends up acting as her informal carer: an odd-couple device that's charming and complicated. But this is also a story of living on the margins, trying to get by, of underclasses and drugs, Alzheimer's and despair — and of unlikely alliances that extend well beyond Hai and Grazina. Hai works in a fast food franchise, Home Market, that provides an ensemble cast of characters whose backstories and sweaty hard work come more and more to the fore. Dishwashers, managers, cooks and a foray into wrestling — this is a portrait of America's workforce that is truly diverse, vivid, ground down and not at all clichéed. It's a community to root for, with an unexpected road trip thrown into the mix, that remakes a poetic (but unsentimental) version of Gladness. — Kate Evans W&N The Original Daughter is the story of sisterhood and its precarious balance of rivalry and love. Protagonist Genevieve lives as an only child until she is eight when her sister arrives. She recalls, "Arin didn't appear the way regular sisters did. She was dropped into our lives, fully formed, at the age of seven." As an adult, she's estranged from Arin, and we spend the novel trying to determine what it is that broke them apart. As children, Genevieve and Arin fall easily into step as sisters, their relationship filled with joy and mutual admiration. But beneath this is the sting of jealousy. Genevieve is terrified that Arin will either steal her life or, worse, leave. She is torn between the love she feels for her sister and anger she feels when it seems that Arin might usurp her in their family hierarchy. Set against the vivid backdrop of working-class Singapore in the 2000s, Wei writes richly, skilfully and without hyperbole about what it means to be family and particularly what it means to be a 'Jie Jie' or sister. The Original Daughter asks with great care who we are if not amalgamations of the ones we love — mining unconsciously or consciously the mannerisms, behaviours and even lives of those we admire. — Rosie Ofori Ward Simon & Schuster/Summit Books Ern Malley. Helen Demidenko. Norma Khouri. Wanda Koolmatrie. Australia has a rich and storied tradition of fakers, forgers, frauds and fabricators. For his debut, Greece-based Dominic Amerena offers us a character who is a worthy addition to this gallery of fiasco-mongers: an insecure, craven, sickly and mercifully unnamed narrator. Peddling his blood and body as a clinical trial subject at the local hospital while attempting to succeed as a writer, his existence is dreary. He envies his "Melbourne-famous" writer partner, Ruth, who has found acclaim selling a story about her mother. Given the precarity of the artistic landscape, only a fool would refuse an opportunity for advancement, and the narrator is no fool. Swimming at the Victoria University pools, he encounters Brenda Shales. A Whitlam-era luminary — part Thea Astley, part Helen Garner — she wrote two novels, won a cult following and promptly vanished into the only dignified position available to a self-respecting literary author: obscurity. Who better to provide prestige than a recluse with some flesh to offer the biographical mill? It's not quite spotting Christ on the boulevard, but it will do. He sets about writing a tell-all account of what happened to the celebrated author. He will be her witness, her confidante. The Boswell to her Johnson. He will bask in the second-hand shadow of her literary light. He will build his fame upon hers. This is a ridiculously funny meditation on careerism and economic precarity. In I Want Everything, the opportunism of the present eclipses… well, everything. Where authors once sought time and space to write, now they seek time and space to better leverage their brand. You may want it all, Amerena suggests, but first you'll need to sell yourself out — along with your friends, enemies, colleagues, fans, associates, pets, peers and family. — Declan Fry Picador Edith — the central character of British author Sarah Moss's ninth novel, Ripeness — grew up as an outsider, the daughter of a Jewish refugee and a northern English farmer. Now 73, she has separated from her husband of 40 years and found a home in a village in County Clare in Ireland. As her four passports attest, she doesn't belong anywhere but it's here she intends to stay, on "the wet coast of a wet North Atlantic island off a bigger wet North Atlantic island". The narrative shifts in the second chapter. It's the mid-60s and Edith, 17, is about to embark on a gap year in Europe before she commences at Oxford University. At the last minute, however, her mother changes the plan — rather than travel to Florence, Edith is to go to her sister Lydia, eight months pregnant and ensconced in a villa on the shores of Lake Como. Once there, Edith is to care for Lydia, a professional ballerina, and call a number when the baby comes. Told in alternating chapters (shifting between first-person narration in Italy and third-person in Ireland), the story's two strands bookend Edith's adult life. In Italy, she is an innocent whose knowledge of childbirth and motherhood comes from books and tending stock on the family farm. In her 70s, her pared-back life reflects the wisdom she's acquired over the decades; her house is small and neat, and her life is one of simple pleasures: walking outdoors, ocean swims, cups of tea, friendship and, on Thursday nights, sleeping with a companionable German potter who lives in the village. That's not to say Edith doesn't feel regret: for the baby born in Italy, for the years she spent trying to please others, for not being a better mother to her son. In Ripeness, Moss considers what it is to belong, the tension between age-old tradition and new ways of living, and how waves of migration shape communities. Moss also explores the thornier sides of motherhood: the effects of trauma, the historic shame of unwanted pregnancy and the ambivalence some people feel at becoming mothers at all. But Ripeness is also a moving and nuanced celebration of life, however imperfect its beginnings, and the joy of saying yes. — Nicola Heath Picador Hannah Kent wrote her way into the international literary scene in 2013 with a surprise bestseller, Burial Rites. Surprising? Only that she was a debut author, writing historical fiction set in Iceland in 1830, based on the real story of Agnes Magnúsdóttir, the last woman executed in that country. Since then, Kent has continued to write, create and imagine her way into the past — with The Good People (2016) and Devotion (2021) — but something kept pulling her back to Iceland, 16,000 km away from her South Australian home. In her memoir, Kent explains her connection to Iceland and revisits her writing of Burial Rites, lyrically and thoughtfully examining ideas of home and how it is that this 'foreign' country has inhabited her and continues to haunt her dreams and imagination. When she was 17, Kent travelled to Iceland as a Rotary Exchange Student. This experience is told with compelling clarity — the adventure, the bewildering language, not being met at the airport, the both warm and mystifyingly cold hosts, the shift that accompanies making new friendships and the growing appreciation of the wild white landscape. But that's not all — because the place, the stories, the archive, the families all followed her home. Followed her creatively, into the writing of Burial Rites, but kept following her for years after. And as this memoir opens, at home with a new baby, feeling detached from her body and delirious with tiredness, she realises that her sense of home, longing, memory, place and language are intimately tied to this distant land. A long way from Adelaide's heat. And so with a true writer's heart, she takes us back there — revealing silences and white stretches of paper, alongside the hush of snowfall and the white stretches of landscape. What does it mean, to be always home and always homesick? There are answers here. — Kate Evans Black Inc. The body of a girl, said to be a saint, is transported from the Pacific to the Kimberley. We know little about her. Why is she nameless? How did she reach the Pacific? Why is she beatified? One thing we do know: before she was entrusted to the care of a woodworker named Orrin, she was assaulted and died at the age of 14. Desecrations and loss haunt the saint's passage through time and space. The reader is encouraged to play detective, piecing together contextual details of the story's little worlds. Throughout the book, an omniscient narrative voice offers a sly, critical commentary on the saint's treatment and the characters' actions, contradicting the idea that she is either nameless or beatified. Thematic and narrative links between the book's four sections gradually emerge. A running theme throughout is grace, especially as women are afforded or denied it. The saint's existence in the form of a girl whose life was tragic and short suggests an ironic, if not aggrieved, stance toward notions of the sacred. Violence and erasure occur here in both dramatic and quiet ways. If the characters' failings are tempered by a desire for sacredness, it is a sacredness that often masks devastation: the Pacific island that forms the background to the opening vignette, for example, is depicted as a place gouged for phosphate mining and ruled by various colonial administrations; the failure of the girl saint's body to register any trace of the violence done to it is not absolution but a 'betrayal'. Rowe's graceful prose offers a suggestive, elliptical, thoughtful exploration of the lives of women. The result is a book about the hypocrisy and moral duplicity of a world more accustomed to realise its future ideals than its present. — Declan Fry Tune in to ABC Radio National at 10am Mondays for The Book Show and 10am Fridays for The Bookshelf.
