4 ms·

I'm not an expert, but they are obviously better. Paper decomposes fairly quickly (in comparison to plastic), and most paper products are made from paper tree f

I'm not an expert, but they are obviously better. Paper decomposes fairly quickly (in comparison to plastic), and most paper products are made from paper tree farms, not hardwood forests. In addition, some of the paper used to make the brown paper grocery bags usually comes from recycled paper, not wood. Tree farms plant fast-growing trees, and then replant continuously, so the net effect on the environment of using paper is actually very low. Ultimately, the net impact of paper bags is the extra CO2 involved in transporting the bags around during shipment from manufacturing, recycling, and to their destinations, at grocery chains. This seems low compared to the footprint of plastic, which is made from oil products.

x0054 11y ago
So, the cities that ban one time use bags, why not just legislate the use of paper bags. I mean, it's a win win, for the consumer and the environment. I know that reusing bags will always be preferable, but if it's not working because people keep buying the reusable bags and not reusing them, wouldn't it be easier to just use paper bags.
- theandrewbailey 11y ago
  > So, the cities that ban one time use bags, why not just legislate the use of paper bags. The economics and science of materials changes much faster than legislation. When it does, you're stuck with some old mandate to use this bad type of bag for many years.
- dragonwriter 11y ago
  > So, the cities that ban one time use bags, why not just legislate the use of paper bags. At least the California ban that the plastic bag industry delayed for a referendum kinda-sorta did this (as to many of the local bans in California). They ban single-use, no-fee bags. They ban single-use, plastic bags, regardless of fee, for certain uses by certain retailers. They permit single-use, paper bags with a minimum fee, for similar certain uses by the same certain retailers. They permit reusable plastic, canvas, or other bags, with specified durability requirements, with a minimum fee when sold by the entities covered by the ban on single-use plastic and/or no-fee bags.

x0054 11y ago

So, the cities that ban one time use bags, why not just legislate the use of paper bags. I mean, it's a win win, for the consumer and the environment. I know that reusing bags will always be preferable, but if it's not working because people keep buying the reusable bags and not reusing them, wouldn't it be easier to just use paper bags.

theandrewbailey 11y ago
> So, the cities that ban one time use bags, why not just legislate the use of paper bags. The economics and science of materials changes much faster than legislation. When it does, you're stuck with some old mandate to use this bad type of bag for many years.
dragonwriter 11y ago
> So, the cities that ban one time use bags, why not just legislate the use of paper bags. At least the California ban that the plastic bag industry delayed for a referendum kinda-sorta did this (as to many of the local bans in California). They ban single-use, no-fee bags. They ban single-use, plastic bags, regardless of fee, for certain uses by certain retailers. They permit single-use, paper bags with a minimum fee, for similar certain uses by the same certain retailers. They permit reusable plastic, canvas, or other bags, with specified durability requirements, with a minimum fee when sold by the entities covered by the ban on single-use plastic and/or no-fee bags.