Australia has had a plastic bag ban since 2018. If they were going to use a slur for white people, why not name it Karen or Wonderbread? ETHAN: Now, it is worth noting that a single-use plastic grocery bag takes about 20 years to break down in the environment about as long as it takes the average to break down. Made from fossil fuels 3. Facebook, Follow us on That way youre reducing the amount of material thats going into the product, but you still want it to be something that youll actually find convenient and reuse with you. Its like when your boss bans YouTube at work, so everyone jumps to Discord. It is the essential source of information and ideas that make sense of a world in constant transformation. But studies conducted in Australia or Europe have limited applicability in the US, particularly when youre considering climate impact, because every country has a different energy mix. Two weeks ago, the Massachusetts State Senate passed a measure that would ban plastic bags from being dispensed by many retail businesses and require a charge of 10 cents or more for a. Already in Massachusetts, 32 towns and cities have passed bag bans or fees. So is there anything you would suggest to policymakers as they tried to address the issue? LASZLO: What I want to know is why I wasnt consulted in inviting this creature into our home. Again, Im not referring to carbon emissions, Im talking nitrous oxide, particulate matter, carbon monoxide, smog, Sagittariuses, really bad stuff. In fact, the only place they havent been is Dave and Busters. Bag bans cut this litter off at the source: In San Jose, Calif., a plastic bag ban led to an 89 percent reduction in the number of plastic bags winding up in the citys storm drains. And cotton, unlike paper, is not currently recycled in most places. Over Half of the Worlds Penguin Species Are Threatened, A New Natural Gas Project in Mozambique Gives Locals All of the Costs and None of the Benefits. The Massachusetts proposal may not become law this year, but it's the latest sign that the plastic bag industry is losing this war. Not So Fast Like cigarettes, plastic bags have recently gone from a tolerated nuisance to a widely despised and discouraged vice. the Massachusetts State Senate passed a measure that would ban plastic bags from being dispensed by many retail businesses and require a charge of 10 cents or more for a recycled paper or reusable bag. Natasha Mascarenhas. So some of my recent research was looking at to what extent do we actually see border shopping occur? What I found was a net benefit, we were still reducing more plastic than this rebound effect. But what I do know I find so fascinating. Nakuru, Kenya In the open-air Wakulima Market thin plastic shopping bags have disappeared, banished by Kenya's national bag ban. It argues that while banning plastic bags may be good for the environment, it is not as simple as it seems. The ideal city bag policy would probably involve charging for paper and plastic single-use bags, as New York City has decided to do, while giving out reusable recycled-plastic bags to those who need them, especially to low-income communities and seniors. Washington, D.C.s government estimates that its 5-cent bag tax has led to a 60 percent reduction in the number of these bags being used, although that figure is contested by other sources. With respect to the bonuses we talked about. First off, I had a lot of cracker jokes, but more importantly being a heat intensive process, the production of plastic bags requires a good amount of energy, and it should come as no surprise that these petrochemical facilities typically use natural gas for their electricity source. It may not be big enough. How do we make polyethylene? Its right up there with Taylor Swifts jet, Beyond Burgers, and figuring out which soup is best for throwing at artwork. If your chief concern is climate change, things get even muddier. Climate change, they say, isnt the only form of environmental degradation to worry about. The Pros and Cons of Plastic Bag Bans | Dumpsters.com Not so fast. Washington, DCs government estimates that its 5-cent bag tax has led to a 60 percent reduction in the number of these bags being used, although that figure is contested by other sources. But what if reusable bags arent good either? Its taken long enough. Thats the percentage the Massachusetts Sierra Club has advocated for at the state level and when lobbying for municipal bag rules. ETHAN: So just to wrap up this point, would you say that its a net positive or negative? These residents are trying to keep them out. Its what we put in the bag at the grocery store that really matters.. So if its something thats easy to keep in your car, or in your purse or in your backpack that you know youll reuse, then thats going to be the bag for you. Not So Fast." Plastic Bags Take Up To 1,000 Years to Decompose. Rather than automatically using a bag, just ask the customer for their bags, or maybe even stop keeping bags at the register at all. Banning Plastic Bags Is Great for the World, Right? Banning plastic bags is great for the world, right? Like cigarettes, plastic bags have recently gone from a tolerated nuisance to a widely despised and discouraged vice. Still, many environmentalists argue that plastic is worse than paper. Testimony on the Proposed Paper Carryout Bag Fee | CBCNY Americans consume more than 10 billion paper bags annually, which is equivalent to 14 million trees. In fact, every region of the US has a different energy mix. Cracker plants release air pollutants such as benzene which is linked to cancer and childhood leukemia, toluene which is linked to birth defects and brain, liver, and kidney problems, formaldehyde which is a known carcinogen, and particulate matter which is linked to cardiovascular and respiratory disease and lung and bladder cancer. Shortly after, the Massachusetts State Senate passed a measure that would ban plastic bags from being dispensed by many retail businesses and require a charge of 10 cents or more for a. The instinct to favor reusable bags springs from an understandable urge to reduce our chronic overconsumption, but the bags we use are not the big problem. For example, I talked in our plastic straws episode about something called default choice modification. If they dont get reused a certain amount of time. And do you think that it is more broadly true that cracking down on one specific plastic product can have rebound effects with other plastic products, or is this maybe a more isolated case that you found? So when you do lifecycle assessments of these two different types of material, paper bags end up being much worse on sort of their upstream, the manufacturing side, so its a bit concerning to also see the shift to paper. The only newsroom focused on exploring solutions at the intersection of climate and justice. So paper and plastic as litter paper, you know, decomposes, it breaks down, its not as harmful to the environment, if it if its litter. Multi-use plastic bags are catching on slower than their cloth counterparts. Businesses may be reluctant to engage in default choice modification because customers might not realize the law and think theyre just getting bad service. Plastic bags are not biodegradable and can do great harms to wildlife. debut in season five. This is often called border shopping. 10 Reasons Why Plastic Bags Should Be Banned | Greentumble You can learn more at pbs.org/perilandpromise. Obtain that grain. ETHAN: Beyond climate though, crackers cause a lot of issues for surrounding communities. Then Oregon, Connecticut, Maine and Vermont passed laws against them. NADJA: Its perfectly harmless, Laszlo. But when ethylene gas escapes the facility and is exposed to sunlight, it turns to smog, which has been associated with increased rates of asthma, lung and respiratory infections, and cardiovascular problems. On the other hand, were using thicker bags, which might be emitting more carbon and pollution into the atmosphere. Reader support helps sustain our work. People look at [paper] and say its degradable, therefore its much better for the environment, but its not in terms of climate change impact, says David Tyler, a professor of chemistry at the University of Oregon who has examined the research on the environmental impact of bag use. The ideal city bag policy would probably involve charging for paper and plastic single-use bags, as New York City has decided to do, while giving out reusable recycled-plastic bags to those who need them, especially to low-income communities and seniors. But sales of garbage bags increased substantially and especially those small garbage bags that you know, are around the same size as the carryout back. (The crunchy rich should already have more than enough tote bags from PBS and Whole Foods.). Again, Im not referring to carbon emissions, Im talking nitrous oxide, particulate matter, carbon monoxide, smog, Sagittariuses, really bad stuff. Also, this question is something like asking, Would you prefer to get a parking ticket or a tax assessment? It depends on the specifics, but its better to avoid both wherever possible. Goldstein is confident that if people switch to reusable bags, even cotton ones, and use them consistently, that will ultimately be better for the environment. Grist is the only award-winning newsroom focused on exploring equitable solutions to climate change. [wrong buzz, rewind] Cracker? Now thats just one set of data, but I hope my point is clear: the production of our plastic bags causes harmful air pollution, and that pollution disproportionately hits low income and minority communities. The opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the host and guests. Theyre just not very effective. 1999-2023 Grist Magazine, Inc. All rights reserved. We use. The reasons for papers higher carbon footprint are complex, but can mostly be understood as stemming from the fact that paper bags are much thicker than plastic bags. "Banning Plastic Bags Is Great for the World, Right? Not So Fast by Ben Adler The author of the piece Ben Adler agrees that plastic bags have an adverse impact on the environment. Christmas: no, were not going to stop. I know youve done some comparisons on different strategies and looked at this more holistically. NADJA: Where did you get your hands on a peer-reviewed study? ETHAN: After we drill and frack and insert other PG13 sounding term here, we have to actually turn our fossil fuels into polyethylene. I collected data from supermarkets, on the types of bags people were using at checkout, both before and after the policy went into effect. Maybe call the manager over or fly the CEO in on a helicopter or pull the fire alarm so everyone starts screaming and running. How do we do that? Banning Plastic Bags Is Great for the World, Right? A New Computer Proof Blows Up Centuries-Old Fluid Equations. Plastic bags could also be more sustainable from the production side. "Exactly what happens to a plastic bag when it is littered depends very much on where it enters the environment and the mechanisms that cause it . In 2018 though, 68.1 percent of paper consumed in the United States was recovered for recycling, which is a really impressive number, although its worth noting that paper fibers become weaker each time theyre recycled, so there are still limitations to that. And then if when those you know are no longer possible, can we recycle them? by John Stossel | May 5, 2020. Often they need to be reused at least 100, if not more times, to be more environmentally friendly than those thin plastic bags that were so familiar with. TAYLOR: Yeah, I would love to see the conversation, sort of move more. Of those 48, 16 had publicly available air pollution data, so I took a look at that group. Do Plastic Bag Bans Work? - NRDC Already in Massachusetts, 32 towns and cities have passed bag bans or fees. Fees have a smaller, but still significant, effect. Or do state governments get to say, when local governments do implement the policies, theres a concern that it causes a patchwork of policies that might harm businesses, confused customers. What she finds is actually leave the bag bonuses really dont have an effect. Obviously, a cotton tote does have a much longer life than a plastic or paper bag, but we also have to be honest with ourselves. Theres no easy answer, says Eric Goldstein, New York City environment director for the Natural Resources Defense Council, which backed NYCs bag fee. Nielson & Associates Manhasset, NY : Banning Plastic Bags Is Great for the World, Right? Bag bans seem to be all the rage, but its not the only option. Plastic bags not only destroy the physical infrastructure, she says, referring to the way they clog up storm drains and other systems, they contribute to emissions. And she points out that marine plastic pollution is a threat to low-income people who fish for their dinner: So many frontline communities depend on food coming from the ocean. Thats why her group supported New York Citys bag fee even though its more of a burden on lower-income citizens. Paper bags do have some pros over plastic theyre biodegradable, recyclable, compostable, reusable, all the fun -ables. Wonder why you hear about legislation concerning plastic bags? Plastic bags not only destroy the physical infrastructure, she says, referring to the way they clog up storm drains and other systems, they contribute to emissions. And she points out that marine plastic pollution is a threat to low-income people who fish for their dinner: So many frontline communities depend on food coming from the ocean. Thats why her group supported New York Citys bag fee even though its more of a burden on lower-income citizens. Its like trying to send paper through a really old copier. Two weeks ago, the Massachusetts State Senate passed a measure that would ban plastic bags from being dispensed by many retail businesses and require a charge of 10 cents or more for a recycled paper or reusable bag. Its vital reporting made entirely possible by loyal readers like you. So if its not effective, and its expensive, its not a recommended policy tool. So the unintended consequences. And just like that, a step towards zero waste is taken, and it feels good. Every time you need to process a new batch of polyethylene, you bring it to the facility and say, Polly want a cracker? [ding ding ding] Wow, that was a tough one. Never mind, that was underwhelming. Climate change, they say, isnt the only form of environmental degradation to worry about. ITS COMPOSTABLE! The shift from one single-use bag to another single-use bag may improve one environmental outcome, but be offset by another environmental impact.. Donate today tohelp keep Grists site and newsletters free. So I often tell people, if theyre choosing a bag, you want to choose a bag that you are going to reuse that could be a thin bag, then plastic bag, or it could be a nylon bag, which is technically still plastic, but is a woven plastic thats fairly lightweight, and thus, perhaps not going to have the same environmental impact as a heavier plastic or a cloth bag. Not So Fast" by Ben Adler and the essay "Choking The Oceans With Plastic" by Charles J. Moore they both pose a connection and an area of disagreement. Any time someone needs bags, make a trip to the back to get them and have them wait. And thats definitely a behavioral effect that we find. I asked Dr. Taylor how we can account for the cost of alternatives when we create policies to address plastic bags. Ad Choices, Banning Plastic Bags Is Great for the World, Right? Some social justice activists who work in low-income urban neighborhoods or communities of color also argue that plastic bags are a particular scourge. Listen Up America: You Need to Learn How to Recycle. But advocates of these laws and journalists who cover the issue often neglect to ask what will replace plastic bags and what the environmental impact of that replacement will be. What if instead of making the plastic from fossil fuels, we made it out of plants? Spoiler alert: plastics parents got divorced at age eleven and it still isnt over it. Rough Draft 14 - Writing - The Effects Of Plastic In the essay ITS INSATIABLE! Come with external costs 9. As far as I know, nobody has done the definitive analysis, which would necessarily need to have a large number of caveats and qualifications. TAYLOR: Its a great question, I would say its a bit nuanced, because that was just respect with respect to the plastic bags. Wait, sorry, wrong kind of cracker. The first time you say your dog ate it, its a funny story, but by the fifth time, youre definitely going to fail first grade. Heres just one tiny example: Does the paper for paper bags come from a recycled paper mill on Staten Island or a virgin forest in northern Canada? Two weeks ago, the Massachusetts State Senate passed a measure that would ban plastic bags from being dispensed As the Australian study noted, a cotton bag has major environmental impacts of its own. For more than 250 years, mathematicians have wondered if the Euler equations might sometimes fail to describe a fluids flow. Solar and wind companies are coming to rural Texas. YouTube. Quick Navigation for Reasons Why Plastic Shopping Bags Should Be Banned REASONS 1. Rather than automatically using a bag, just ask the customer for. You would think five cents to reuse a bag would have a state similar behavioral response is five cents to not use a bag to have to pay for than plastic bag. And the most common substitute, paper bags, may be just as bad or worse, depending on the environmental problem youre most concerned about. Well discuss the extent to which plastic bags are a problem, some of the shortcomings of the trendier solutions, and some other less commonly discussed ideas for how to most sustainably and effectively move forward. So that means fewer animals getting entangled over time which is good, but unfortunately, it also means plastic bags take a lot less time to become microplastics. Thats right, the solution to single use plastic isnt bans, its awkwardness! Thats one idea that Ive seen floated all over the internet. I hope at least one of those cracked you up. Even then, the question remains as to whether single-use bags are necessarily always worse than reusable ones. So if its, if it makes it into the environment, it stays there, it breaks into smaller pieces, it gets blown around the world, many different ecosystems. All donations doubled for a limited time. If you want to take two minutes to help out The Sweaty Penguin, you can either leave us a five star rating and review or join our Patreon at patreon.com/thesweatypenguin. ETHAN: Its true. Killing wildlife 5. Thats where this gets interesting. And you even have some states, at least 17 in the US who have actually banned bag bans, banned regulating bags in general. But it turns out that charging people to use bags is not the same as paying them to bring reusable bags. Two weeks ago, the Massachusetts State Senate passed a measure that would ban plastic bags from being dispensed by many retail businesses and require a charge of 10 cents or more for a recycled paper or reusable bag. Here's How. ITS PAPER. That signals to customers that these arent reusable products. But not just anywhere. Anything thats not zero gets, you know a pretty big impact. Increasingly, environmentalists are pushing for laws that include fees for all single-use bags, and that require paper bags to be made with recycled content, which could lower their carbon footprint. 12:48 PM PDT March 16, 2023. TAYLOR: Yeah, I think one thing that stands out, when we think about plastic bags, and when we think about sort of packaging, in general, is that theres this perception that its free, that theres no price, and that you can you know, youre not paying for the plastic bags that you use, thats not actually true, you actually do pay for the plastic bags that you use at the supermarket. ETHAN: Beyond climate though, crackers cause a lot of issues for surrounding communities. That's why any good plastic bag ban attempts to avoid a surge in paper bag use by also implementing a paper bag fee, ideally nudging shoppers to bring bags from home instead. And in particular, stores start offering thicker plastic bags and sticker paper bags for free. Banning Plastic Bags Is Great for the World, Right? Not So Fast - Pinterest Like, get a life, man. Its like excuses for not doing your homework. One of the biggest battery recycling plants in theUSis up and running. As part of our commitment to sustainability, in 2021 Grist moved its office headquarters to the Bullitt Center in Seattles vibrant Capitol Hill neighborhood. On the disposal side, single-use plastic bags are currently not recyclable, but thats because the bags are so flimsy they can get caught in the machinery. I mean, look at all the kids roaming the streets looking for water after eating a single Saltine. Heres Why That Matters. I mean, I know it loves to hang at the cracker plants and all but wouldnt it have more fun hanging out with other creatures of the night? Definitely not the intention. Nearly one year after New York became the second state in the nation to pass a ban on grocery store plastic bags the law is going into effect on Sunday. Our world faces increasingly severe hurricanes, wildfires, floods, heat waves, and more, but grocery bags have somehow become one of the hottest environmental topics. Not So Fast | WIRED Plastic Bottles Plastic Bags