That’s on the whole probably good news, though I’m having trouble finding immediate satisfaction. Banning plastic bags doesn’t necessarily mean less of an impact on the environment. Not without a behavior change, as well.
Plastic bags have the lowest carbon footprint to produce and distribute compared to paper, polypropylene, or cotton. In many places plastic bags (including small produce bags) can be recycled at the grocery store (two near me do but it’s easy to miss). I also found plastic very easy to reuse. It’s a bit annoying to have to buy trashbags when my reused grocery bags worked fine and were made of less material.
Reusable totes are only as eco friendly as they are reused (about 130 times to equal plastic). Forgetting them and amassing a huge collection is not progress nor is using paper bags once and then recycling them. source
Happy to see attention on the issue but as I haven’t always appreciated the nuances or been wary of the green washing in the past, I thought this was worth sharing. Progress is rarely as simple as a new regulation or new product, as strong capitalist forces would want us to believe. If we want meaningful progress we need to foster a culture that consumes less and reuses more.
recycling thin films often doesn’t happen without specialized equipment and most regions don’t have it. so they collect it, but… it probably goes to a landfill.
That’s on the whole probably good news, though I’m having trouble finding immediate satisfaction. Banning plastic bags doesn’t necessarily mean less of an impact on the environment. Not without a behavior change, as well.
Plastic bags have the lowest carbon footprint to produce and distribute compared to paper, polypropylene, or cotton. In many places plastic bags (including small produce bags) can be recycled at the grocery store (two near me do but it’s easy to miss). I also found plastic very easy to reuse. It’s a bit annoying to have to buy trashbags when my reused grocery bags worked fine and were made of less material.
Reusable totes are only as eco friendly as they are reused (about 130 times to equal plastic). Forgetting them and amassing a huge collection is not progress nor is using paper bags once and then recycling them. source
Happy to see attention on the issue but as I haven’t always appreciated the nuances or been wary of the green washing in the past, I thought this was worth sharing. Progress is rarely as simple as a new regulation or new product, as strong capitalist forces would want us to believe. If we want meaningful progress we need to foster a culture that consumes less and reuses more.
recycling thin films often doesn’t happen without specialized equipment and most regions don’t have it. so they collect it, but… it probably goes to a landfill.