Plastic bags.

Years ago my sister would always take her own bags with her, canvas bags or otherwise, when she went shopping. The store clerks, especially the younger ones, would always try to give her new bags. They didn’t seem to understand the concept of what she was asking them to do. I guess it seemed pretty strange at the time.

Now “bring your own” has become a big deal but, for some stores, it seems more of a way to screw the consumer out of a few more pennies than as a way to save the environment. I have been using bins for years and I find them very handy. I remember at first the stores gave me points for having these bins then they fazed it out (shame on you). Now it's the in thing and the big stores say that the money they get from people buying their plastic bags will be put back into the environment. Really!? I'll be waiting to see if they publish the numbers on this one. I, as a consumer, still use my bins, and the cashiers seem to really like them better than the bags. When I see people still paying for these bags I have this picture in my head and it is not pretty, but it really hits home.