Here on the uk we have stopped having free bags in stores for a while now.
we simply take out own or buy a bag and pay for £0.05-£1.00. All moneys collected from the sales of bags are normally donated to a charity chosen by the supermarket or store.
Many people have started also buying lose fruit and vegetables as well as cold meats and cheeses from the supermarket counter instead of packed goods. Some items do end up saving a few bob too, as can be cheaper that way.
we have introduced the water refill scheme, where you can enter a business premises and just ask to refill your own water bottle, the business will have a sticker on the window to let customers know that they can refill their water bottles in there, So no need to buy plastic water bottles!!
The supermarkets that do home delivery have started to supply deliveries without bags, just items inside crates... except for some items that need a small plastic bag.
china has announced that will no longer take other countries recycling “baggage”, so now there’s only a few other countries that are able to take surplus items for recycling but unfortunately they are not doing so well and these are being pilled up on landfill.
So the less we buy the less needs to be recycled.
There are now many items that can be changed to plastic free options BUT some still expensive.
I presume it’s just a matter of time that things will change even more. in the end of the day we can’t just consume, all needs to go somewhere, and with the world population always growing, some measures will need to be put in place to help us not only to do the best choices but also to have the knowledge to do it.