Paper bags aren't too commonly used in Turkey, but shopkeepers just love giving out plastic ones -- for a tiny item that you could easily tuck into your purse or a pocket, for a single soda you'll probably just drink on the way home anyway, for a few nectarines that are already in another plastic bag. I've gotten used to saying "Poşet lazim değil, çantama koyabilirim" ("a bag is not necessary, I can put it in my purse") -- and to the funny looks people usually give me in return. So the old "Paper or Plastic? Neither!" idea seems like it might be a hard sell here. But that's not what the folks at the farmer's market found out.

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