Going Green, or Greed?

I went to the Super Store today, not to single them out specifically because it seems as if every major grocery store is charging 5 cents per bag; with the exception of good old Wal Mart, but that's a whole other rant. I had forgotten my reusable shopping bag and was charged the usual 5 cents, which is something I've grown accustomed to doing, and is now something I've become increasingly annoyed with. I know one might say, "just stop forgetting your shopping bag, and you won't have to purchase a bag", but it has absolutely nothing to do with money, it's the principle of the matter. Where is that money going? If we're being forced to purchase bags because we're sometimes absent-minded, and all of these major corporations are "going green", how much of the "green" that we're contributing is actually going to the environment? Research indicates absolutely none. On the contrary, these corporations are even more profitable as a result of this new policy. I'd willingly pay 5 cents per bag if I saw the cashier physically remove the amount I spent on shopping bags, and put it in a little jar with a sticker of planet earth on it. Instead, she deposits it into a slot in her cash till that will inevitably be another digit on someone's paycheque.

In 2009, Target started crediting customers 5 cents per every reusable
bag they used for their purchases. Seems like the perfect concept for
a company that really wants to "go green" without profitable gain in
mind. They're leading by example, others should be as well.