MNN - Mother Nature Network

I am reading Plastic Free: How I Kicked the Plastic Habit by Beth Terry right now. In it she mentions pictures of sea creatures filled with plastic as part of the beginning of her efforts toward a plastic free life.
Then last night I was watching Bunheads. In a scene at a farmer's market, a mother and her child are talking. The mom is talking about how good she feels carrying the reusable tote. The daughter basically says "I told you so" and then the mother mentions that it was the daughter showing her a picture of a seagull that swallowed the plastic bag that did it to her. (An aside: the scene starts with the daughter putting a plastic bag of produce into her reusable bag and there are multiple items sold in plastic tubs and bags during the scene)
I am still admittedly working on taking reusable bags everywhere. I am good about the farmer's market and the drugstore, even to Target. The supermarket--not so much. Anywhere else? Rarely.
Mostly the reusable tote bags for me has been about signage in stores, saving money for bringing your own bag, or in the case of the farmer's market: everyone does it and because of the nature of farmer's markets, there are some that don't provide bags or they make clear that it costs them money to give you a bag when they are small family farmers.
In other words, it isn't the seagulls. I am unsure why this is--lack of promotion in that direction? I know that I can't see a six-pack ring without thinking of dolphins and other sea mammals wrapped in them. The nonstop imagery in the 80s burned it into my mind.
What made YOU into a reusable tote user? Or what do you think it will take?