When single-use plastic bags were banned in 2011, some Canberrans found themselves without a steady supply of free plastic bags.

Colin Mckay was one of them. He asked: "Has the sale of kitchen tidy bags increased as a result of not having plastic bags?"

His worried that it had, and questioned whether the ban could be considered successful if that was the case.

Reporter Sonya Gee peered into a few Canberra bins to find out what was going on.