I know that charges are being introduced by supermarkets for plastic shopping bags and I fully agree with this. However, I took my grandkids to McDonalds and noticed a sign saying that they were starting to charge 5p for paper bags!
Think this is a step too far - how on earth can you get a "Happy Meal" home if it's not in a bag?
If McD are forced to spend every single 5p in cleaning up the vile tide of filth that (many of) their customers leave around the countryside near me, then it's a 'good thing'.
same in the takeaways. They hand over red-hot foil containers and leaky polystyrene 'cups' and then ask if you'd like a 5p bag, lol. You'll soon get used to it.
Serves you right for supporting the idea of paying for bags in the first place. Those who make a rod for their own backs find they have applied it to others also.
I agree with paying for plastic bags as there is no need for them. Folding shopping bags are so cheap yet week after week I see shoppers with up to 10 plastic bags in their trolleys just because they are too lazy to take their own with them. Paper bags are in a different league - easily recycled and don't clog up landfill sites for years as they just disintegrate.
We have been paying for carrier bags since 2011 here in Wales so count yourselves lucky. If we ever have a Mcd, we usually say no thanks to a paper bag but they normally put the chips in one for free anyway.