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Sure, but the stated purpose of these bans was not to reduce the number of plastic bags we see, it was to reduce plastic pollution. That would make you think th
by karaterobot 4y ago
Sure, but the stated purpose of these bans was not to reduce the number of plastic bags we see, it was to reduce plastic pollution. That would make you think that plastic bags were the most important source of post-consumer plastic pollution, which they aren't — plastic packaging is. For marine microplastics ("the pacific garbage patch") the main sources are things like textiles, car tires, and of course fishing nets.
The thinking seems to be "well, it would be hard to eliminate those sources, so let's make it so you don't see as many plastic garbage bags drifting around, and it'll look like we did something meaningful."
- recursive 4y agoIt seems to have absolutely reduced urban plastic pollution. I'd call it a win.
- mechagodzilla 4y agoMy town banned single-use plastic bags and I went from picking 1-2 out of my yard every week to pretty much zero immediately. It definitely didn’t solve every problem, but I agree it definitely made a problem a lot better.
- 1_1xdev 4y agoHalf measures still do _something_ They did reduce plastic pollution, as you admit. Was it the most effective regulation to pass to reduce plastic pollution by the greatest possible amount? Not at all
- LawTalkingGuy 4y agoThey're often counterproductive. People feel accomplished, and finished with the half-measures and they often don't bother investigating the results or the ongoing requirements.
- SantalBlush 4y agoI'm not sure that this is true. Maybe you could give some evidence that this is the most common outcome.
- karaterobot 4y agoThe evidence is that the major sources of plastic pollution were not put under further regulation subsequent to the regulation of this minor source of plastic pollution, even though the threat they present has not diminished.
- ZeroGravitas 4y agoIt's an article of faith for people in the libertarian climate change denial community, because they get funded by the people who sell the natural gas that is used to make them: https://reason.com/tag/plastic-bags/ https://reason.com/tag/plastic-bags/ https://reason.com/tag/straws/ https://reason.com/tag/straws/ Just a quick glance at those links shows they are just a little obsessed about this.
- panzagl 4y agoI was visiting San Diego soon after the fees went into effect and they were dealing with a cholera outbreak because the homeless no longer had plastic bags to defecate into. So you have a miniscule effect on plastic pollution in exchange for a large effect in a different area.
- ryan_lane 4y agoThe solution to this is to provide bathrooms, not plastic bags.
- killyourcar 4y ago
- seventytwo 4y agoThat is a wild unindented consequence.
- killyourcar 4y agoThis is not salient, it's like saying "when I removed pressure from the wound, the patient started bleeding out. Therefore removing pressure is bad and to fix the wound we should ask Re apply pressure" The pressure is a stopgap, you need to address the underlying problem (in this case by ensuring adequate bathrooms) rather than simply reacting to the surface level concern.