Plastic bans work. Billions of plastic bags were avoided in the US alone

Re:Plastic bans work. Billions of plastic bags were avoided ... by macintux on Sunday February 04, 2024 @10:26AM (#39250921)

Still seems like a shift from single-use (well, often double-use) plastic bags to multiple-reuse bags is a net win. I know I use my reusable grocery bags for all sorts of activities.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Plastic bans work. Billions of plastic bags were avoided ... by ajsnigrutin on Sunday February 04, 2024 @10:31AM (#39250966)

This depends. Sometimes the reusable ones have so much more plastic, that you would need to use it a 100+ times to make it worth it, while at the same time, they last maybe 10, 20 uses, before the handle snaps or something.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Plastic bans work. Billions of plastic bags were avoided ... by tomtheelder on Sunday February 04, 2024 @10:35AM (#39251012)

I feel like cotton canvas ones should be the thing we move toward. No plastic, and they last for so long. Never had one wear out before.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Plastic bans work. Billions of plastic bags were avoided ... by ajsnigrutin on Sunday February 04, 2024 @10:41AM (#39251071)

https://edition.cnn.com/2023/03/13/world/reusable-grocery-ba...

> According to one eye-popping estimate, a cotton bag should be used at least 7,100 times to make it a truly environmentally friendly alternative to a conventional plastic bag.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Plastic bans work. Billions of plastic bags were avoided ... by da768 on Sunday February 04, 2024 @10:47AM (#39251140)

Only if said plastic bags are used as trash bags and incinerated.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Plastic bans work. Billions of plastic bags were avoided ... by tomtheelder on Monday February 05, 2024 @12:18PM (#39263693)

Yeah I've never been a fan of that study. They take a bunch of categories where the bags basically all have negligible impact regardless of material (ozone depletion, ionizing radiation, etc) and compare them on those without using a particularly reasonable weighting scheme. And in all those categories, none of them really have anything to do with the actual reasons we want to move away from plastic bags (terrestrial and oceanic plastic waste, microplastics in water sources, etc).

I guess I think it just sort of misses the point. It's like if they were to say "oh we should keep burning fossil fuels instead of solar because solar uses 1000x more land" but then didn't mention or compare CO2 emission.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Plastic bans work. Billions of plastic bags were avoided ... by positr0n on Sunday February 04, 2024 @10:41AM (#39251075)

Cotton bags must be used 7100 times to be less environmentally impactful than single use thin plastic bags. Organic cotton bags 20,000 times.

Source: https://www2.mst.dk/udgiv/publications/2018/02/978-87-93614-...

(First time I've posted hoping I'm wrong and get down voted and yelled at for spreading FUD, haha. But I've seen this figure a lot)

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Plastic bans work. Billions of plastic bags were avoided ... by oftenwrong on Sunday February 04, 2024 @01:02PM (#39252643)

I think that is possible. My mother has had the same cotton canvas grocery bags for ~40 years. They are faded from washing, but are still strong, and she still uses them.

The other advantage is that cotton bags do not shed as many microplastics (the thread is almost always synthetic).

Many of the "re-usable" woven plastic bags I've acquired in recent years are of extremely poor quality. I have had to re-stitch many of them, and some had to be discarded after a very short service life.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Plastic bans work. Billions of plastic bags were avoided ... by positr0n on Monday February 05, 2024 @09:32AM (#39261576)

I agree, certainly possible if you are diligent.

Most people are not though, for various reasons, most commonly not caring enough. Plastic bag legislatures should keep that in mind if they want to do more than pass a feel good law.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Plastic bans work. Billions of plastic bags were avoided ... by tomtheelder on Monday February 05, 2024 @12:21PM (#39263729)

I responded to a sibling comment, but basically I think that study sort of misses the point. The reason to move away from plastic bags is due to plastic waste and microplastics, and the study doesn't touch on that really at all. Their analysis is based on stuff like ozone depletion, eutrophication, resource depletion, and other things that just aren't really meaningfully impacted by shopping bag material choice.

I don't think it's FUD exactly, I think it's just a bit of a weird analysis that focuses on the wrong things.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Plastic bans work. Billions of plastic bags were avoided ... by seagulls on Sunday February 04, 2024 @11:17AM (#39251485)

> Still seems like a shift from single-use (well, often double-use) plastic bags to multiple-reuse bags is a net win.

Is this based on your feelings/sentiment, or do you have some hard data to back up this baseless assumption?

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Plastic bans work. Billions of plastic bags were avoided ... by superkuh on Sunday February 04, 2024 @10:41AM (#39251076)

I use the disposable plastic bags as insulation for the windows in my apartment. I use them for trash bin bags. I use them for catching the hair when I save. Etc, etc. I'd be sad to see them go but find it very doubtful they'll ever be banned in my US state.

[ Parent | on HN ]