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Paper bags do have a larger carbon footprint, but I assume that parent is talking about plastic waste ending up in the oceans. Bottom line is reusability per yo

Paper bags do have a larger carbon footprint, but I assume that parent is talking about plastic waste ending up in the oceans. Bottom line is reusability per your excellent linked article, which paper would edge out on. I do reuse paper bags at least once or twice, but also sometimes reuse plastic bags. I wish there was a way to guarantee that the plastic bag I toss won't end up in the ocean or become aerosolized and survive for a bajillion years or whatever.

gruez 6y ago
>Paper bags do have a larger carbon footprint, but I assume that parent is talking about plastic waste ending up in the oceans Most of the plastic in the oceans isn't coming from consumer waste[1]. Furthermore, most ocean pollution comes from a few developing countries[2]. Therefore a ban single-use plastics for consumers in developed countries will have little or zero impact on ocean pollution. [1] "Ocean-based plastic originates mainly from the fishing industry, nautical activities and aquaculture" https://www.iucn.org/resources/issues-briefs/marine-plastics https://www.iucn.org/resources/issues-briefs/marine-plastics [2] https://www.statista.com/chart/12211/the-countries-polluting-the-oceans-the-most/ https://www.statista.com/chart/12211/the-countries-polluting...
- novia 6y ago
  The developed countries send their plastic to developing countries to be "recycled" and then it ends up in the ocean. So ultimately, a ban in a foreign land actually can help. See Plastic China.
  - gruez 6y ago
    >The developed countries send their plastic to developing countries to be "recycled" and then it ends up in the ocean That statement might be broadly true, but I doubt that it's accurate for plastic bags. For china at least, only around 10% of their total waste is imported[1], so blaming it all on developed countries is questionable. The data is from before the ban, by the way. I'm not sure what you're implying by putting "recycled" in quotes, but they're not definitely taking the plastic and dumping it into their rivers. They're paying us for the plastic[2], not the other way around. Plastic bags can't even be recycled in most jurisdictions, so it's unclear how they'd be imported into those developing countries in the first place. [1] https://ourworldindata.org/plastic-pollution#how-much-plastic-waste-did-china-import https://ourworldindata.org/plastic-pollution#how-much-plasti... [2] https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2018/06/28/623972937/china-has-refused-to-recycle-the-wests-plastics-what-now https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2018/06/28/6239729...

gruez 6y ago

>Paper bags do have a larger carbon footprint, but I assume that parent is talking about plastic waste ending up in the oceans Most of the plastic in the oceans isn't coming from consumer waste[1]. Furthermore, most ocean pollution comes from a few developing countries[2]. Therefore a ban single-use plastics for consumers in developed countries will have little or zero impact on ocean pollution. [1] "Ocean-based plastic originates mainly from the fishing industry, nautical activities and aquaculture" https://www.iucn.org/resources/issues-briefs/marine-plastics https://www.iucn.org/resources/issues-briefs/marine-plastics [2] https://www.statista.com/chart/12211/the-countries-polluting-the-oceans-the-most/ https://www.statista.com/chart/12211/the-countries-polluting...

novia 6y ago
The developed countries send their plastic to developing countries to be "recycled" and then it ends up in the ocean. So ultimately, a ban in a foreign land actually can help. See Plastic China.
- gruez 6y ago
  >The developed countries send their plastic to developing countries to be "recycled" and then it ends up in the ocean That statement might be broadly true, but I doubt that it's accurate for plastic bags. For china at least, only around 10% of their total waste is imported[1], so blaming it all on developed countries is questionable. The data is from before the ban, by the way. I'm not sure what you're implying by putting "recycled" in quotes, but they're not definitely taking the plastic and dumping it into their rivers. They're paying us for the plastic[2], not the other way around. Plastic bags can't even be recycled in most jurisdictions, so it's unclear how they'd be imported into those developing countries in the first place. [1] https://ourworldindata.org/plastic-pollution#how-much-plastic-waste-did-china-import https://ourworldindata.org/plastic-pollution#how-much-plasti... [2] https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2018/06/28/623972937/china-has-refused-to-recycle-the-wests-plastics-what-now https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2018/06/28/6239729...