A simple idea to reduce plastic waste

In my country, you pay for your plastic bags at the supermarket. Typically about 2-3 kroner (50 US cents). The effect is that a fair number of people, myself included, reuse plastic bags many times, which is a good thing.

But every so often I end up at the supermarket without any spare bags, either because I forgot, or because I hadn’t planned to go shopping, so I end up buying new plastic bags, even though I have plenty at home. This happens often enough that I routinely have to purge my collection of plastic bags, throw them out, because there’s just too many. They last pretty long, after all.

Wouldn’t it be even better for the environment if instead of throwing them out, I could bring all my used plastic bags to the supermarket, and other people could use them when they’d forgotten their own plastic bags, and without paying for them? Why not share bags among all?

Unless, of course, the supermarkets think it would be ugly or disgusting, or they actually enjoy the revenue they’re making from plastic bags currently?

A silly, small thought, I know, but one that I had, nonetheless.