The couple of cents for a bag makes people conscious of the cost.

Now if they could figure out a way to streamline all of America’s food packaging : a box over a bag on every item is way more wasteful than a bag for 10 items.

I totally agree they need to be recycled and should not be just tossed into the trash. Using the reusable totes should be optional and not another mandated charge to the customer.

I find it’s no trouble to bring my own bags and containers when I shop for groceries and in fact much prefer to do so. (And obviously, it’s an environmentally friendly practice requiring little effort or sacrifice.) My cloth bags have nice carrying handles and are larger and sturdier than any of the usual paper/plastic bags. I place frozen or refrigerated goods directly into large-capacity insulated bags (w/handles) as I’m shopping to help keep them cold. (And of course these items go back into the insulated bags after checkout for the trip home.)

It’s easy (even for habitually disorganized persons like myself) to keep bags on hand in the car at the ready for grocery trips. But, I recognize there will always be a need to have some bags on hand in grocery stores for those who need them (myself included, on rare occasions). In these instances, charging the customer a small amount for the bags does not seem unreasonable to me.