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Comment by _ph_ | Hacker News Reader

I think selling fully reusable cloth bags would be the right thing to do, but otherwise I agree that stores shouldn't offer single-use plastic bags any more.

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In NZ after the single-use plastic bag ban some people argued against only having high quality reusable bags available by saying "but I keep forgetting my reusable bags, and I so I keep having to buy more! Now I have 15 cloth bags at home - this is far more wasteful than when we had single-use plastic bags."

But those complaints came in the first few weeks after the ban, and they dried up soon enough. Everyone learns eventually that they need to take their bags with them - at least I hope nobody is sitting at home now, five years after the ban, with 1000 reusable cloth bags.

P.S. I've found jute bags the best value for money. They seem to really last forever whereas the thin cloth type start wearing out after a while.

In Canada this is an issue. The 'reusable' bags aren't cloth -- they're still a weave made from plastic. And it can be tied to culture and availability. It's much easier to 'remember' your bags if you're making a dedicated trip to the grocery store from home. But, if you want to spontaneously stop in after work, for example, you would have had to remembered a bag before you left home or had one on you at all times. We should be encouraging the type of city design that allows for (and encourages!) this type of spontaneous shopping. We should figure out the bagging system to match. Recyclable/compostable paper bags seem like a good thing.

All of my of my on-the-go shopping without thinking about it beforehand have much smaller quantities than the one I specifically think about (especially because in Germany I usually take some bottles with me to deposit at the store), for that a smaller, foldable bag in my backpack has served me very well.

Yes, I have bought reusable bags just because I didn't bring one. :) But then I keep using it and over time this doesn't really create extra trash.

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