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The other day, when I was on my way to do some grocery shopping, I saw a woman who was carrying a plastic supermarket basket.
She was walking alone on the street, quite far from the shops, with a nonchalant air.

Nobody seemed to think it was strange, except me.

Soon after she walked past me, I saw an old, Asian lady pushing a shopping trolley, from the same supermarket. They both seemed to be walking home with them.

I wondered if the supermarkets allowed their trolleys and baskets to be borrowed, similar to the way  you can borrow an umbrella from some railway stations in Japan.

There's no problem as long as you return the umbrella after you borrow it. It is an honesty system.

Somehow, I doubt it. I am sure that no supermarket offers this kind of service to their customers.  Sometimes I see shopping trolleys abandoned in parks or streets. Maybe the ones I saw wethat day were destined to be laundry baskets.  
Many supermarkets have introduced a system where you have to put a coin in the trolley's lock and chain system, then the trolley must be returned to get your money back.