the reality tunnel

I’ve recently gotten into the World Changing website a bit. This article about taxes on plastic bags to reduce waste is interesting. It mentions taxing plastic bags to reduce waste. This may be a good idea, but there are also consumer/industry policy changes that could work alongside or instead of such legislation. Simply asking customers if they have their own bag would before bagging groceries would eliminate the scenario where I am talking to the cashier and it’s too late to tell the baggers that I’m using my own bag. Usually the line is busy and I don’t want to hold things up to have them unbag or rebag the the groceries. I’ve also actually seen baggers throw away unused bags when I tell them that I don’t want them. Also, changing the age-old question of “paper or plastic?” to “paper, plastic, or no bag?” would remind consumers that there are other options for carying their groceries and might encourage some to use a less wasteful alternative. I submitted this idea to Kroger via a web form and I’m interested to see how they comment.