http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-17027990

My immediate answer is not turning it into a bloody revenue raiser for tax avoiding companies and their political friends, and I'm sick of reading about dodgy surveys and how plastic bags are an unsightly mess - I live in one of the most underfunded parts of Belfast and I don't see too many bags lying around, even when walking along the local greenway that would be a dumping ground if you believe the hype. Is Great Britain the same in your experience? Do you genuinely often see plastic bags littering the streets?

They know damn well few people want to carry an enormous bag with them unless they absolutely have to, never mind the fact that most people probably use their plastic bags for storing rubbish in, and that's not gonna change short of a scientific or technological marvel, is it?

Personally I try and take my own bags when I go shopping but we do use black plastic bags in the bin for rubbish and it does play on my mind.

Why can't they be recycled? Does it cost too much?

The plastic bags from the supermarket aren't very strong. Too many items and they rip/tear so we need more of them to spread the weight. Whatever bags we use then get reused to carry my lunch and then reused as rubbish bag for the house the night before collections.

I use our shopping bags as liners for the pedal bin in the kitchen.

Aren't most supermarket bags bio-degradeable now?

Plastic bags should be banned, IMHO.
All they do is to refuse to compost in land fill, or they end up in the sea killing things (the non-corn starch based ones this is).

In Wales they now cost 5p which allegedly goes to charity.

In some ways I prefer plastic bags, they can be reused beyond their initial purpose better than 'bag for life' bags can. Also, they are at the checkout waiting, with bag for life bags I've got to remember to put them back in the car, then to take tem into the shop, then they take up room in the trolly, usually sliding over the toothpaste or something so I have to go back and pay for it separately.
If they want to scrap plastic bags for paper bags then I'd be all for that I think.

I would want the paper bags to be strong enough to hold say an 8-pack of coke or several pints' worth of milk.

Paper bags can be much stronger than the regular plastic ones.

Until it rains...

We shop several times a week and just use a small backpack each. Did that in London where plastic bags were free and here in Denmark where the free ones wouldn't hold two tomatoes and the strong ones are expensive. Thinking about it I did the same in Oz as well, it's probably because I haven't had a car in several years.

Problem is easily solved, ban all cars.

I often do internet grocery shopping now. They will take the bags back for recycling the next time they deliver, but the people who pack them are obviously mentaL. In the past I've had like 8 bags for 12 items. I'd kind of prefer it if they used large hard 'crates' and just used the minimum number and they swapped the empty one(s) each time.

Jon

Tesco certainly does that, Asda's all about the bags IME.

Just do what lots of people do in Germany.

Take your own foldable plastic crates to the supermarket and use them instead.

These are handy - http://www.thegardenersshop.co.uk/cotton-string-bag-359-p.asp
Small enough to go in your pocket, or your hand bag. Or your man bag even.

We use Co-op fairtrade cotton bags. They're ace.

I was in Malta a couple of years ago and the shops there sold, (and still sell) the cloth bags, ranging in price from about 20 cents to a euro. They were really good, and we were told by my relatives that they'd been in use there for several years.

As usual, we seem to be lagging...