Apparently, Coles customers are having trouble remembering to bring their own bags for shopping and are feeling cranky. Funnily enough, they don’t forget to bring money to pay for the shopping.

Some customers raged when the old, flimsy single-use plastic bags were first removed, so Coles started providing, for free, thicker reusable plastic bags: first, saying it was a temporary measure, then, after more ‘‘outrage’’, saying it was indefinite, and now they’ve backflipped again and said it’s until the end of this month.

The logic of how that changes behaviour is lost on me. Online forums have exploded with the various announcements and, gosh, did comments drip with vitriol and anger on both sides – if we could have harnessed some of the passion as energy, the grid would have glowed.

The resistance to the bag ban is a little bewildering; other states in Australia have had this policy for years and seem to be looking at their tantrum-throwing neighbour with raised eyebrows. We have done so well with other changes that this outcry seems way out of proportion.

When leaded fuel was phased out because it was bad for our health and the environment, people prepared, adapted and got on with it. When seatbelts were introduced for safety, the same thing happened. When the world united to ban CFCs, once people and the ozone layer had time to adjust, we saw a satisfying and positive improvement. Changing habits takes time; Coles gave customers barely any before it baulked and embarked on its series of confusing U-turns.

Arguments about which bag material is less environmentally damaging or that people may die if they reuse unclean plastic bags are side issues, easily solved with a little research. (And I’m sorry, but if you’re using your chicken bag to then collect apples, that’s Darwinism right there.) The issue is greater than just plastic bags – it is how much we put our own short-term convenience ahead of the impacts on the whole planet. We cannot keep ignoring the evidence of microplastics in our food, the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, marine life being strangled, and clogged waterways. We are behaving like we have another planet up our sleeve.

My message to Coles is that if people are complaining, be patient and also be clever: provide a financial incentive to facilitate the change process. Offer a significant discount if people manage to bring their own bags and continue to charge people who don’t (and please, more than 15¢).

This rewards people who are already making the effort, as well as encouraging people to join in. Meanwhile, I’ll grab my upcycled hessian-sack shopping bags and head off to the market humming to myself; it sounds something like "Down, down, standards are down".

Nicola Philp is a Fairfax columnist.