When we were in San Francisco over the Memorial Day weekend I was asked if I wanted a bag for some cards I purchased at the de Young Museum gift shop. Plastic bags are banned there and stores are required to charge 10 cents for a paper bag. I usually say I don't need one if the merchandise is small enough—and at home I use my stash of cloth bags (if I remember them)—but at the museum I felt somewhat guilty requesting one and then felt the need to explain why (way too much information I know), so yes I would gladly pay the extra fee.
At art class Wednesday we were talking about this ban and my friends asked if I had seen the documentary Bag It which shows an island made entirely of plastic floating in the ocean. I have not but the description is enough to make one wonder what it would take for Missouri, or just St. Louis, to follow San Francisco's lead and ban plastic bags too. In May 18th's edition of the NY Times Elizabeth Rosenthal wrote an article on the subject that might be of interest: Is It Time to Bag the Plastic. What do you think, could we be there yet?