What's with a plastic bag?

So we've been told again and again to stop using plastic bags when shopping, instead we should carry our own personal eco or canvas bag to carry our goods. Reducing the usage of plastic bags is a quick fix to our problem. But more important than educating the public to reduce usage is to find out what they are using it for. The obvious is to hold shopping goods, but what about the other usage?

In Malaysia, it is not uncommon for homes to re-use plastic shopping bags as rubbish bags, to be disposed daily. I think the more important step is to find an innovative solution to help homes to dispose rubbish that either does not need plastic bags or using biodegradable bags. Once we can replace the re-usage of plastic bags in such way, I believe we can reduce the need for it drastically. No? Hmm.