No bag is better than a reused bag

Please help the stores and your peers understand something for which I suffer passionately: No bag is better! (or at least equal).

The idea of saving resources and reducing our carbon footprint will go farther faster if we are purists. Purity is about ideals. Ideally, I wouldn't be shlepping things around with me. Why bring a bag if I don't need one? That's how things fill up- because they're there.

The less we use, the better for ourselves and the environment.

I am very happy that stores are beginning to offer a tiny discount of a few cents if you bring a bag. However, that discount is not extended if you refuse a bag. Why not? I have discussed this with many a cashier or customer service representative who, rolling their eyes, explained that I did not get a discount for bringing a bag because I did not bring one. True enough, but the discount is for the very concept of saving resources. It is about retraining. If we are taught that we must pay to have baggage, we will Definitely have less literal baggage, and subsequently less metaphorical baggage.

My dream is that the States follow Ireland, and start charging 25c/plastic bag. Watch how quickly people learn to bring their own, or politely refuse.

No bag, thank you!