this post was submitted on 25 Sep 2024
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Uplifting News

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[–] [email protected] 25 points 1 month ago (13 children)

That's on the whole probably good news, though I'm having trouble finding immediate satisfaction. Banning plastic bags doesn't necessarily mean less of an impact on the environment. Not without a behavior change, as well.

Plastic bags have the lowest carbon footprint to produce and distribute compared to paper, polypropylene, or cotton. In many places plastic bags (including small produce bags) can be recycled at the grocery store (two near me do but it's easy to miss). I also found plastic very easy to reuse. It's a bit annoying to have to buy trashbags when my reused grocery bags worked fine and were made of less material.

Reusable totes are only as eco friendly as they are reused (about 130 times to equal plastic). Forgetting them and amassing a huge collection is not progress nor is using paper bags once and then recycling them. source

Happy to see attention on the issue but as I haven't always appreciated the nuances or been wary of the green washing in the past, I thought this was worth sharing. Progress is rarely as simple as a new regulation or new product, as strong capitalist forces would want us to believe. If we want meaningful progress we need to foster a culture that consumes less and reuses more.

[–] [email protected] 12 points 1 month ago (1 children)

I've never viewed getting rid of plastic bags as a carbon saving measure. To me it's addressing how bad they are when they get into the environment. As much as these bags can be reused, most aren't and they just end up thrown out.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 month ago

They're no problem when properly thrown out, but a huge problem when people litter with them as happens far too much. I hate to see us all punished because a significant portion of people can't stop littering, but I can't see us stopping them...

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