Plastic bags at U.S. retailers — to pay or not to pay?

Tennille Harris carries her purchases without a bag as she leaves a CVS pharmacy. AP Photo
WASHINGTON — For decades the standard question at U.S. grocery store check-out counters has been “Paper or Plastic?” But since January, consumers in the U.S. capital have faced a different question: “Will you pay 5 cents for a bag?”
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Europeans have long accepted the idea of providing their own baskets, bags or nets to carry their purchases, or paying for bags, but in the United States, where retailers go out of their way to cater to customers’ needs, being given a free paper or plastic bag to carry purchases is largely taken for granted. S

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