Well, surely this has happened to you. You get to the check-out line at a grocery store and the cashier asks if you need a plastic bag. Well, it seems that more and more, Quebecers are saying "no" to this question.

A new government study shows that between 2007 and 2010, Quebec consumers used 52% fewer plastic shopping bags or three fewer bags a shopper per week.

Quebec's Environment Minister Pierre Arcand says we reached our target two years early.

"At the end of the day I think people are more and more concerned by the environment," he says, "it's a question of habit."

A habit, he believes, that is not motivated by the nickel or dime charged at many retailers for a plastic bag. The Minister believes what this also shows is that people are willing to make the behavior change on their own will and does not foresee an outright ban on plastic bags, like in Toronto, any time soon.

"We will continue to monitor the situation," the Minister says, "but I think for now we are on the right track."

Meanwhile, the study shows that re-usable bags are most popular at grocery stores, however there is still some work to do in reducing the use of plastic bags in pharmacies.