Been to the grocery stores lately? Then perhaps you have seen the poster above. The owl (the bird symbol of Tsukuba) is holding an eco-bag, and the announcement at the top says: レジ袋の無料配布が中止となります。 Starting from September 1, the free distribution of grocery bags will be stopped.
At the bottom part, it says: お買い物はマイバッグ持参で！Bring your own bag (My Bag) when shopping!
I think this is a welcome development. I myself have bought my own basket (strangely called "My Basket," which is actually redundant because I bought it and so it’s a given that its my…ahm, never mind!) so I won’t have to use the plastic grocery bags. Except for the part where I have to lug the big basket to my car whenever I go out for groceries, using it is quite convenient and useful actually.
Here’s why: