I’ve been trying to bring a reusable bag with me when buying groceries or running other errands. Once I got into the habit of doing this, I ran into a secondary challenge: convincing cashiers to put my purchases in the reusable bag. It’s almost like you have to force the bag in front of them to break the normal cycle of using the store’s disposable bags.

As my experience illustrates, more than one set of people may have to abandon their old habits before a new product or way of doing things can reach acceptance. I think we’re often guilty of emphasizing one group without considering who else takes part in the process. In the case of reusable bags, this means focusing too much on the consumer and not enough on the cashier who actually handles the bag during a typical purchase.