wrote
over here in Ireland plastic shopping bags used to be everywhere;
we have bad litter problems and the plastic bags were a very visible
sign of that; you got them all over roadsides and in hedges and fences
etc. We spent years trying to ask people to use re-usable bags or
boxes etc. That had almost no effect but it did allow me to feel very
superior everytime I asked for no bag and used my backsack for small
purchases. Eventually, the solution was very direct and simple. It
became illegal to give plastic bags away for shopping. You could
still get them but you had to ask for them and pay a tiny fee (15cents
a bag or so). It worked overnight. They have disappeared from the
countryside (at least the fresh ones have). Now, whenever you go to
the supermarked, you have to remember to bring 4 or 5 reusable ones
(made of cloth/canvas of some kind and that last about a year) or get
boxes or buy your bags. At first you can never remember to bring teh
bags; now it is second nature. It really worked.

Yes I think that would certainly change things. I agree it's awful to
see the amount of plastic blowing around and stuck in roadside hedges
etc but sadly it's true that it takes a charge, however small, to
concentrate people's minds on not being careless with most resources.
I'm sure it would encourage me to remember to take bags to reuse more
often. I can't see the big supermarkets doing it here on their own
initiative though, as they'd each be wary of the others gaining some
advantage in pricing, so it probably would need legislating for. When
you think about it lots of seemingly minor law changes like that could
have quite big results in lots of ways.

--
Sue