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Back then, it was even fashionable to carry your schoolbooks in such plastic bags. But the plastic bag thing just gets to me.By some estimates, the plastic bag is the single most ubiquitous consumer item on earth, numbering in trillions. Even in the first post-totalitarian years, plastic bags were a luxury of the West, coming mostly from duty-free stores, and especially precious when branded with Marlboro or Camel. Even when disposed properly in the trash, they tend to blow away and become litter. Except, it wasn't hip to carry them using the handles; one had to roll the top and carry the bag like a plastic clutch, even if it meant having one's nails permanently stained in Marlboro red. I know this, because it's become the topic of a routine confrontation that marks my shopping experience. I'd install an air-conditioner in my south-east facing apartment in a flash, especially come August. I'm guilty of wasting an entire CD for a few pictures. In flood-prone Bangladesh, where plastic bags choked drainage systems, the bags have been banned since 2002. In my travels, I'd come across vast fields that were beginning to look like plastic bag dumping grounds.Now, I can't pass for exceptionally eco-minded. In those pre-1989 days, milk was sold in pre-sealed plastic bags, which we dutifully washed and reused for storing food in the freezer. I've yet to recycle glass and plastic containers regularly, even though there are recycle bins next to my apartment building. Large plastic flowers in pastel shades of pink, blue, green and yellow adorned their otherwise bare branches. My guess is the store clerk interprets my refusal as a sign of modesty and is reassuring me that there's plenty where this bag comes from. Only one per cent of plastic bags are recycled worldwide and the rest, when discarded, can persist for centuries. Plastic-bag-starved Bulgarians are now gorging on their abundance. Plus, consider this: bringing your own bag is the latest eco-chic statement. She washed and ironed them regularly and demanded their prompt return from borrowers. So, please, try carrying your yoghurt home without the plastic bag; it's easy, you'll see. There are 46,000 pieces of plastic litter floating in every square mile of ocean, according to the United Nations Environment Programme. There were hardly any other plastic bags in those days. There's plenty where it's going to as well."I really don't want it," I insist. They cartwheel down city streets, billow from fences, get tangled in tree branches, clog storm drains, wash into rivers and then out to sea. They don't end up spending eternity in landfills, however. This is how the conversation unfolds:"Thank you," I say. When designer Anya Hindmarch's “I'm not a plastic bag” bag hit stores in Taiwan, there was so much demand for the limited-edition bag that the riot police had to be called in to control a stampede, which sent 30 people to the hospital.