Thirty years after the question "paper or plastic" entered our vocabulary, it may be threatened. Heightened awareness over environmental concerns has at least one major retailer taking steps to cut down, if not outright eliminate, the use of plastic bags.

Ikea, with three Northern California stores in West Sacramento, Emeryville and East Palo Alto, began charging five cents each for disposable plastic bags.

"The environment is becoming more and more important to everyone around the world," said Ikea manager Heine Roikjer. "I think also here in the U.S., everybody wants to see if they can make an impact as well and be part of making a better global world."

Plastic bags, 100 billion of which are used by consumer each year in the United States according to the Environmental Protection Agency, have increasingly become linked to various environmental hazards. Made from petroleum products, the EPA says the bags, which are routinely used by grocery stores and other retailers, can take up to 1,000 years to degrade.

As an alternative, Ikea began selling a large reusable "Blue Bag" for 59 cents each. Early customers at the West Sacramento store preferred the more expensive, yet environmentally-friendly bags by a nearly two-to-one margin.