NOW, if by any chance you weren't aware of the new mandatory carrier bag charge which came into force last Monday, you must either do your shopping online or you don't own a telly.

A news article that I read said: "From 20th October, shoppers will be charged at least 5p for all carrier bags, including paper and plastic bags, in all Scottish shops."

It continued: "Scotland alone uses a staggering 800 million single-use bags each year."

So for me, it made perfect sense to cut down on buying carrier bags.

However, every time last week I purchased an item, the shop assistant looked at me rather sheepishly and apologised for asking for 5p for a single-use carrier bag.

While browsing in a trendy designer shop in Princes Square I overheard a woman paying for goods at the till.

"5p!" she exclaimed.

"You expect me to pay 5p? 5p? 5p?"

She continued to squawk like a parrot over and over.

"So, I've just spent £600 and you want me to pay 5p for a bag to put my clothes in? You cannot be serious."

Yet again the poor shop assistant had to explain that if it was up to her, she would give her the bag for nothing, but that if she didn't charge her she could get into serious trouble.

"You see," the girl apologised, "if we don't charge you, we are liable for a hefty fine."

Meanwhile I couldn't help thinking to myself, 'Well, the other way to look at it is, if you can afford to spend £600 on clothes, surely you won't miss 5p.'

Later I was talking to my friends about the week's issues.

My pal Mae said: "You know Janice, for years I've had a cupboard full of used carrier bags.

"I'd so many that every time I opened the cupboard, bundles of bags would fall out on top of me.

"I was so fed up with it that only last week I finally decided to bin them all.

"Then, yesterday I spent £58 in Boots ... and then I had to buy a blinkin' bag."

Fifteen minutes later Mae was still ranting on about the 5p charge until I pointed out that the reason for the charge was not because it was a money-making scam by retailers as she suspected, but a genuine attempt to improve the environment by making shoppers use fewer bags.

Later that evening, I was in the drive-through queue at McDonalds and there seemed to be some sort of hold up caused by the vehicle in front of me.

"What's keeping us?" inquired my impatient friend Christine, who was desperately awaiting her take-away.

"I've no idea," I sighed. "It doesn't usually take this long to get served."

So I stuck my head out of the car window in an attempt to solve the mystery of the hold-up, and before long I discovered out the reason.

The driver in front of me apparently refused point blank to pay 5p for the brown McDonald's carrier bag to hold his take-away - which meant the poor girl in the kiosk had no option but to hand out items one-by-one.

A portion of chips, a drink, a burger, another portion of chips, a Happy Meal, another drink, sachets of sauce, another portion of chips, another Happy Meal. The conveyor belt of items was never ending.

We couldn't stop laughing as we visualised the inside of the driver's car. "There must be food and drink sitting on every available space," laughed Christine.

Eventually it was my turn at the window to collect our food.

"What was all that about?" I nosily asked the frazzled looking girl in the kiosk.

"The driver was adamant he wasn't paying 5p for a bag."

She shook her head.

"I had no option but to hand his items out one-by-one. If people refuse to pay for a bag, I have to hang right out of the window to hand out the food.

"My arms are killing me," she moaned.

"I'll be glad when this day is over."

"The laugh is," Christine pipped in, "the driver will probably have to go and get his car valeted now.

"And that'll cost him a heck of a lot more than a 5p bag."