"ATTENTION: BAGLESS WONDERS, THE VERDICT IS IN"

What retailers giveth, retailers taketh away. Well, that's not entirely true unless you have a nickel per bag to shell out. This used to be true but only for most supermarket chains. Sadly, it's not only taken a hold of Zeller's, Winners, Rona and all stores across the board for that matter. It's gone as far as to trickle all the way down to the dollar store level which frankly I'm appalled with.

I realize the rules must be enforced all across the board but come on people. It makes my blood boil to be asked by the cashier if I want a bag with that after purchasing a measly greeting card. What am I going to do with it after I'm done with it. I certainly can't line my green bin with it. I can't bag a lunch in it. I can't even line my birdcage with it. A bag that size (although it costs the same as a standard bag) serves absolutely no purpose other than to conceal the nature of the item to others outside the store. That's it.

Lately, I've been observing other shoppers in hopes of getting to the bottom of this whole 'bag less' issue and how others (like myself) are handling it. Oh and have I noticed a lot. While a select few use reusable bags at the check-out the majority would rather opt to carry their items (if only a few) by hand out of the store. But for those with shopping carts filled to capacity they don't have the same luxury (if you want to call it that). So they wheel their purchases to their cars where something else becomes apparent. Their trunks permanently house a plastic laundry tub (no doubt purchased at the Looney Store - hey why spend even more money if you don't have to right?) or cardboard boxes (supplied for free at select grocers) to avoid spending any additional monies on plastic or those bacteria-salmonella breeding reusable bags they've been plugging for awhile now (which incidentally cost 99 cents each). No thank you!

To say life as we know it has changed enormously would be an understatement. Yes, that's to be expected considering we've come a long way from paper bags. Which brings me to my next point. I wish they'd thought this out more thoroughly before implementing something that continues to have a domino effect on our daily lives. I mean weren't plastic bags introduced to make the consumers life easier? Seems like anything that is that is supposed to make our lives easier turns into a nightmare somewhere down the road doesn't it? Suddenly after years of studies and clogging the system (oh they're bad for the environment yeah I know!) they brought about recycling. While recycling did actually work, repeating the process would have the plastic become so paper thin that it started to resemble tissue paper. Bag handles would snap, the bottoms would split and we're right back where we started from.

So why not just stop all this nonsense and bring back the good ol' paper bag. If it was good enough for us back then why isn't it good for us now? I know, I know, out there there must be millions of tree-huggers who are ready to blow a gasket (which is very bad for the environment I'd like to add). I can just hear them now. Cut down more trees for this? How dare you! Well, let me just say this in my defence (and I'm sure millions more are thinking the same thing) this would be a good solution and on many fronts. Financially it would put money in the consumers pocket (which means spending elsewhere - yeah good for the economy!) without having to fumble for a nickel each time we venture into the world of retail. Next, we have an environmental benefit (good for the tree-huggers, nature lovers and eco-green worshippers - yup you can all clap now!) because paper as we all know it is biodegradable. Yes, that means less plastic bags to further clog our landfills and we'd still have our bags (although paper) to line our green bins with. You see, it's a win-win situation for everyone involved.

Plastic bag usage has sharply declined according to an article in the Toronto Star. Metro (in Ontario and Quebec) who was the only store (so why are all the rest of the retailers being so tight lipped about these stats eh?) to reveal their statistics since the fee was introduced last month reported a 70 percent decline while their reusable bags have skyrocketed which have become a profitable exchange. Gives a whole new meaning to the phrase 'charge it' doesn't it?

Who knew it would go into a state of extinction? The T-Rex, the Ford Pinto, the VHS and pretty soon the plastic bag? Pfffff....Well, until my plastic grocery bags are ripping at their proverbial seams. Until I'm left with one handle and until I've hit that bag less oasis in the desert that continuously asks me for five cents a pop. I'll be carrying (or wheeling) my purchases to my car one grocery shopping day at a time. This frustrated consumer has left the building. Thank-you....Thank-you very much!