Non-biodegradable plastic bags will be banned in Italy from 2011. Originally it was 2010 but the government postponed its introduction. In the meantime the Coop has taken the lead and no longer supplies free plastic bags for your shopping. You bring your own bag or you buy some biodegradable bags – 15 cents for basic plastic and 85 cents for a longer lasting bag. Its introduction has been painless and some people even bring straw baskets as in olden times. We now keep a stock of bags in the car. Some bags, given as gifts, we have decided to keep in the hope they become collectors’ items – in the picture we are keeping the Obama bag as new.