LONDON -- In the wake of the sheer chaos that came with Britain's recently introduced 5p plastic bag charge, a new trend has emerged on social media.
In order to avoid the new cost incurred by taking a plastic bag, a small number of Brits have taken to Twitter and Facebook to suggest an alternative.
Don't pay 5p per bag at Tesco, it's a rip off. I got a trolley for a quid. It's worth far more in scrap value alone ;-)— Kevin Graham (@jigsawuk) October 8, 2015
Why would I pay 5p for a carrier bag when I could buy a whole shopping trolley for £1. #carrierbags #bagcharge— Richard Harris (@cigarboyrick82) October 5, 2015
5p for a carrier-bag is quite steep considering a trolley only costs £1— Craig Deeley © (@craiguito) October 5, 2015
Even English band The Wurzels got in on the action.
5p for a carrier bag? Our local supermarket only charges £1 for a whole trolley!— The Wurzels (@TheWurzels) October 8, 2015
Although most people seem to be joking, others have taken the suggestion literally.
Why pay 5p for a bag when you can get a whole trolley for £1? pic.twitter.com/T0vCGmysql— The Fastest SpermⓂ️ (@J0RDLEE) October 10, 2015
5p for a bag ? Sike. I'll bring the trolley back when I'm done pic.twitter.com/Kb2QNTAOAK— HRH. (@LamieLDN) October 6, 2015
5p for a bag quid for a trolley #NoBrainer #Needed6Bags @JohnMurray84 @CiaranGriff83 pic.twitter.com/Tm93ftFUG2— paul griffiths (@paulgrippa) October 10, 2015
To be fair, people -- possibly after realising that a shopping trolley is a fairly inconvenient thing to have lying around the house -- have been returning the carts back to their rightful homes.
"The trolley is back where it belongs," tweeted Paul Griffiths the day after sharing his original image. He included photo evidence of a line of trolleys outside Morrisons, and added the hashtags #LookingAt8Years and #ItWasntMe.
Mashable has reached out to British supermarket Sainsbury's and we'll update this story if we receive a response.