Plastic Bags

As far as I can remember, being a kid at the time going shopping with my mum, plastic bags were mostly unheard of. We took shopping nets or woven baskets or bags to carry the goods and managed quite well. I wonder how we became so dependent on plastic bags within only about two decades. Why is it that we continue using these plastic bags just for our convenience and selfishly ignore what these masses of unyielding plastic can do to our environment?  

Groceries I buy for my home I only use canvas.

Since I work for a childcare center we shop at Smart and Final for the weekly supplies. I take those plastic and paper bags home and use them for my kitchen (and bathroom trash for that matter).

We use the plastic shopping bags to line the cans; tying off the plastic bags by the handles when they're full. We use the paper bags for recyclables. When the paper bag is full we dump the recyclables directly into the waste wheeler and reuse the paper bag until it no longer stands alone.


N.B.

On the subject of plastic and using them for shopping, what does everyone use in their kitchen trash cans? Do you use plastic bags to line them? I use my shopping bags, small I know but its recycling in a sense.