4 ms·

I think the bag bans are more about the litter clogging up sewers, trees, streets, and breaking down into microplastics outside. I also think your number is ch

I think the bag bans are more about the litter clogging up sewers, trees, streets, and breaking down into microplastics outside. I also think your number is cherry picked. Here in the states, most grocery stores sell woven poly polypropylene, LDPE resusable bags, not cotton totes. The study you cite says it only takes 4 reuses of an LDPE bag to beat a single use plastic bag, and 11 for the woven PPE kind, an order of magnitude better than cotton. That's only a month or two of grocery trips, and they last for years. I know I've reused the same ones for the past decade.

beerandt 7y ago
Yes, litter is a problem. But in the same article, note the impact for HDPE with a biodegradable additive for a marginal cost. Just saying there are many options, that's all. Yes, I picked cotton because it's considered the luxury choice (given the context) and usually the one sold as the most environmentally friendly. Ie non bleached, organic, sustainably sourced etc that you don't usually see with plastic alternatives. (I did mean to make a point, but not mislead.) Which is kinda my point... Plastics can fill a proper need and still be the most "green" choice. Same with paper or any "disposable". But back to HDPE... Most people even reuse these at least once at home. And ignoring that, the nearest competitor is still twice the impact. I'm not saying alternatives are bad, just that people need to be open to the fact that sometimes the unexpected alternative can be best. And conversely, the "green" luxury alternative might actually be worst.
- SmellyGeekBoy 7y ago
  Next time you're at a supermarket count the number of people using cotton bags. Cotton bags are completely irrelevant but are often cherrypicked by those with an agenda to push.
  - beerandt 7y ago
    They're at least as popular where I am as the LDPE or woven plastic options; at least at Whole Foods type stores. But I didn't intend to mislead. Besides my point is more that plastics have an appropriate place in the environmental scheme of things. Whether you treat them as disposable or reusable.

beerandt 7y ago

Yes, litter is a problem. But in the same article, note the impact for HDPE with a biodegradable additive for a marginal cost. Just saying there are many options, that's all. Yes, I picked cotton because it's considered the luxury choice (given the context) and usually the one sold as the most environmentally friendly. Ie non bleached, organic, sustainably sourced etc that you don't usually see with plastic alternatives. (I did mean to make a point, but not mislead.) Which is kinda my point... Plastics can fill a proper need and still be the most "green" choice. Same with paper or any "disposable". But back to HDPE... Most people even reuse these at least once at home. And ignoring that, the nearest competitor is still twice the impact. I'm not saying alternatives are bad, just that people need to be open to the fact that sometimes the unexpected alternative can be best. And conversely, the "green" luxury alternative might actually be worst.

SmellyGeekBoy 7y ago
Next time you're at a supermarket count the number of people using cotton bags. Cotton bags are completely irrelevant but are often cherrypicked by those with an agenda to push.
- beerandt 7y ago
  They're at least as popular where I am as the LDPE or woven plastic options; at least at Whole Foods type stores. But I didn't intend to mislead. Besides my point is more that plastics have an appropriate place in the environmental scheme of things. Whether you treat them as disposable or reusable.