Many of the grocery stores around here already charge 5 cents a bag. The reusable ones are OK but they require a certain amount of forethought. I'm not going to carry 4 of those bags around with me all the time because I might want to get groceries while I'm walking home from work.

Some stores are going back to paper but only the green and the nostalgic seem to think that's anything but a waste of time.

I like the MECs solution. Every time you take no bags they donate to charity on your behalf. The bags they do have are made from cornstarch and biodegradable. More stores could learn from them.

They also collect unwanted polyester clothing and recycle it. I'm not sure how much of that ends up back in their products but it must be at least some of it.

I'm not sure I buy the claim that locally grown fruit and veg can have a higher carbon footprint than those grown overseas. And regardless, there's no reason not to buy your grown groceries at the local farmers market. The prices are usually pretty good, the product is good, and you're supporting your local economy. Not to mention that locally grown usually has less chemicals on/in it than the stuff they ship around the world. I'd be more worried about that personally.