This seems kind of odd to me, the idea that using 50 plastic bags is environmentally equivalent to one plastic-based reusable bag.<p>The "environmental impact" is defined pretty broadly, but intuitively it feels like I'd rather have the one bag go to the dump when it wears out than have 50 flimsy plastic ones blowing about or getting into every nook and cranny.<p>As always of course, while it's good to be aware of your own wasteful habits, they're probably a rounding error compared with industrial and commercial waste, things like enormous fishing nets and lines being cut off in the ocean, or pallets of packages being wrapped by hundreds of feet of plastic wrap for transport.
I usually reuse those 'single use' grocery bags, either for more groceries, or as waste-paper bin liners, etc.<p>This whole 'single-use plastics' thing seems to be a huge diversion if you ask me.<p>The one case where a ban might effective doesn't seem to get much focus; cosmetics/toiletries. Shampoos, liquid soap dispensers (esp with pump-action), toothpaste tubes, etc. There's probably more plastic in each of those than 10s or 100s of grocery bags.
Does anyone reuse plastic bags? I keep all of them and use them for small trash cans, dog bags, lunch bags, etc. To me, it’s similar to a free useful item. But I guess most folks just toss them in the bin.
The only thing I would bring up is we don't have to use bags. Proof of that are stores like Aldi. They don't give you bags, and it's not hindering people from doing their shopping there.
Note, these are the numbers across "all impact cateories," from the original paper here [1].<p>From a climate change perspective alone, all the numbers are significantly lower (see page 79). E.g. a cotton bag needs only to be reused 53 times to be as low impact as a plastic bag.<p>I no longer feel as bad about using my cotton bags, which have been used hundreds of times.<p>1. <a href="https://www2.mst.dk/Udgiv/publications/2018/02/978-87-93614-73-4.pdf" rel="nofollow">https://www2.mst.dk/Udgiv/publications/2018/02/978-87-93614-...</a>
It's a chart that summarizes complex calculations that surely depend on which assumptions you make. And most likely, similar bags can be manufactured in different ways, so wouldn't the variance on these numbers be very high, depending on the bag's source and how it's distributed?<p>As such, a simple chart isn't enough and I think a more in-depth article is called for.
As far as I can tell, the comparison in the article shows that it's generally way better for the environment to get a bunch of those flimsy plastic bags at the grocery check-out than to re-use a more substantial cotton or plastic bag (such as you can buy at Aldi) or to use paper bags. This conclusion is completely unintuitive to me.
How horrifying! I shudder to think how many bags our "Green Boxes" are worth:<p><a href="https://www.presidentschoice.ca/product/pc-green-box/21175631_EA" rel="nofollow">https://www.presidentschoice.ca/product/pc-green-box/2117563...</a><p>:|
considering the extensively-documented problem of plastic wastes in the waterway, that alone is worth the price of admission to some sane way to reduce or eliminate single-use plastic containers, especially around food.
Once you realise the American Libertarian movement is funded by fossil fuel interests, life makes much more sense:<p><a href="https://reason.com/tag/plastic-bags/" rel="nofollow">https://reason.com/tag/plastic-bags/</a><p>They are rabid about plastic bag bans, because they're made from fossil fuels.<p>They also don't like plastic recycling, renewables, efficiency or climate change for the same reason.<p>Amusingly after years of "don't recycle plastic just landfill it" the public opinion has shifted enough for bans on single use items to be likely, they've recently pivoted to "don't ban it, we will soon be able to recycle plastic"<p>Compare their recent article<p><a href="https://reason.com/2022/05/31/environmentalists-ban-single-use-plastics/" rel="nofollow">https://reason.com/2022/05/31/environmentalists-ban-single-u...</a><p>where the evil environmentalists don't want to recycle, with their decades long jihad against the idea:<p><a href="https://reason.com/category/energy-environment/recycling/" rel="nofollow">https://reason.com/category/energy-environment/recycling/</a><p>Often written by the same author.<p>But who else would bravely defend us from tyrants who want to ban inefficient light bulbs as part of a devious corporate plot:<p>> The ban was pushed by light bulb makers eager to up-sell customers on longer-lasting and much more expensive halogen, compact fluourescent, and LED lighting. When customers balked at paying more for home lighting, General Electric, Sylvania, and Philips did what corporate behemoths always do: They turned to the government for regulation that rigs the market in their favor.<p>> So when you throw out that last 40 cent 40 Watt light bulb, remember that you're not just tossing out a piece of history, but a piece of what used to be a freer market.
There is no way you can reuse Lidl paper bag 40+ times, it would break after few uses, if you are lucky and it's not raining, if it's raining you will be happy if it will last at least one journey home.<p>I find it funny when people who buy paper bags few times a month think they are eco friendly compared to me using plastic bags from 10+ years ago (mind it's thicker kind of plastic, not the Tesco thin crap quality which we used to reuse as trashbin bags back in days when they were free), if grocery doesn't fit into my empty backpack.<p>As for enviromental impact - people using these paper bags or even better fancy cotton bags are usually same people who were getting tested dozens/hundreds times per month/year and wearing their ecofriendly respirators to save grandma, meanwhile me "nature destroying monster" antivaxxer had like 2-3 home tests since 2020 and rarely worn just ordinary face mask when forced.<p>And don't get me started on these virtue signalling people driving their cars while I don't even own a car, but yeah, you are saving the nature by using cotton/paper grocery bag while throwing away dozens/hundreds of COVID tests, respirators and driving car to shop, kids to school and everywhere because you are lazy F while I go to shop by tram and walk my kids to kindergarten/school.
Bringing your own bags to the grocery store does about as much as wearing a ribbon for your favorite cause -- it makes you feel like you are doing something when you really aren't. Almost everything you put in that bag is already packaged -- often multiple times. Folks would rather feel good and virtue signal than really solve the problem.