ETHAN: Now, it is worth noting that a single-use plastic grocery bag takes about 20 years to break down in the environment about as long as it takes the average to break down. California became the first to introduce regulations banning single-use plastic bags in August 2014. And all of these materials do better? That way youre reducing the amount of material thats going into the product, but you still want it to be something that youll actually find convenient and reuse with you. Right now! The Massachusetts proposal may not become law this year, but it's the latest sign that the plastic bag industry is losing this war. Washington, DCs government estimates that its 5-cent bag tax has led to a 60 percent reduction in the number of these bags being used, although that figure is contested by other sources. In the case of using a tax, the government is also then able to raise some money, which can be used to either lower taxes elsewhere or go toward environmental cleanup efforts or most importantly, turning Niagara Falls into a waterslide. Fees have a smaller, but still significant, effect. Its the type of giving that allows us to plan for future projects and provides us with the consistent funding we need to continue bringing you the climate news that you rely on. If a plastic bag is reused in the home as the garbage bag in a bathroom waste bin, does that reduce its footprint by eliminating the need for another small plastic garbage bag? I also got retail data from the store on what people were purchasing, in particular, what kinds of garbage bags they were purchasing. How many plastic bags are replaced by one cotton tote bag? Heres Why That Matters. A single mom, or someone working two jobs, is more likely to have to do her shopping in a rush on the way home from work than to go out specifically with a tote bag in hand. Have a listen. Lets start with paper: the only kind of bag that is, in the most literal tense, tearible. If a plastic bag is reused in the home as the garbage bag in a bathroom waste bin, does that reduce its footprint by eliminating the need for another small plastic garbage bag? In fact, eight states have gone so far as to ban single-use plastic bags, and over 200 counties and municipalities have enacted ordinances either imposing a fee on plastic bags or banning them. Were trying to get these deep dives a little bit shorter so you can listen to the whole thing during your commute or workout or walking your grandpa or what have you, and also make it a little bit more manageable for our team. Obviously, a cotton tote does have a much longer life than a plastic or paper bag, but we also have to be honest with ourselves. Not So Fast Like cigarettes, plastic bags have recently gone from a tolerated nuisance to a widely despised and discouraged vice. Cracker plants release air pollutants such as benzene which is linked to cancer and childhood leukemia, toluene which is linked to birth defects and brain, liver, and kidney problems, formaldehyde which is a known carcinogen, and particulate matter which is linked to cardiovascular and respiratory disease and lung and bladder cancer. Instagram, Follow us on Banning Plastic Bags Is Great for the World Right Aw, dammit, I was so close! Try Christmas now! Then Oregon, Connecticut, Maine and Vermont passed laws against them. On the other hand, were using thicker bags, which might be emitting more carbon and pollution into the atmosphere. Plastic bags not only destroy the physical infrastructure, she says, referring to the way they clog up storm drains and other systems, they contribute to emissions. And she points out that marine plastic pollution is a threat to low-income people who fish for their dinner: So many frontline communities depend on food coming from the ocean. Thats why her group supported New York Citys bag fee even though its more of a burden on lower-income citizens. And sort of the bottom line, what I found with in terms of like the amount of plastic, was about a third of the plastic that was eliminated by the carry out bag ban came back in the form of garbage bags, which do tend to be a bit thicker than the carry out bags. Major funding forPeril and Promiseis provided byDr. P. Roy Vagelos and Diana T. Vageloswith additional funding from Sue and Edgar Wachenheim III,and the Estate of Worthington Mayo-Smith. Plastic Bags Are a Problem. Are Plastic Bag Bans a Solution? - PBS Heres just one tiny example: Does the paper for paper bags come from a recycled paper mill on Staten Island or a virgin forest in northern Canada? Like cigarettes, plastic bags have recently gone from a tolerated nuisance to a widely despised and discouraged vice. Banning plastic bags is great for the world, right? | Grist Often, the problem shifts. Not easy to recycle 7. I hope at least one of those cracked you up. Thats a border shopping behavior. This really needs to be top priority. But theres also so much nuance to this issue, and its important to consider these consequences of bag bans as we come up with the best possible solutions. Solar and wind companies are coming to rural Texas. In other words, rather than emitting carbon, they would take carbon out of the atmosphere. The measure now under consideration in Massachusetts, for example, would mandate that single-use paper bags contain at least 40 percent recycled fiber. Its like excuses for not doing your homework. Every so often, our star fires off a plasma bomb in a random direction. People still need bags to bring home their groceries. Not So Fast Advocates for plastic bag bans often neglect to ask what will replace plastic bags and what the environmental impact of that replacement will be. Listen Up America: You Need to Learn How to Recycle. bags, or maybe even stop keeping bags at the register at all. Advocates for plastic bag bans often neglect to ask what will replace plastic bags and what the environmental impact of that replacement will be. It argues that while banning plastic bags may be good for the environment, it is not as simple as it seems. ETHAN: And that wraps up episode 106 of The Sweaty Penguin. Cotton tote bags dont fare well either. Also, this question is something like asking, Would you prefer to get a parking ticket or a tax assessment? It depends on the specifics, but its better to avoid both wherever possible. Goldstein is confident that if people switch to reusable bags, even cotton ones, and use them consistently, that will ultimately be better for the environment. ETHAN: Welcome to episode 106 of The Sweaty Penguin: Antarcticas Hottest Podcast. As longtime plastic bag adversary Ian Frazier recently reported in The New Yorker, In 2014, plastic grocery bags were the seventh most common item collected during the Ocean Conservancys International Coastal Cleanup, behind smaller debris such as cigarette butts, plastic straws, and bottle caps. The New York City Sanitation Department collects more than 1,700 tons of single-use carry-out bags every week, and has to spend $12.5 million a year to dispose of them. So Im trained in thinking about how People respond to environmental [00:00:32] policy and particular and the policies that I focused on have been around waste and food. ETHAN: Beyond climate though, crackers cause a lot of issues for surrounding communities. Bag bans cut this litter off at the source: In San Jose, Calif., a plastic bag ban led to an 89 percent reduction in the number of plastic bags winding up in the citys storm drains. As far as I know, nobody has done the definitive analysis, which would necessarily need to have a large number of caveats and qualifications. A pound of cotton requires more than 5,000 gallons of water on average, a thirst far greater than that of any vegetable and even most meats. The U.S. is the number two producer of polyethylene in the world behind China, and in the U.S., 80 percent of our primary petrochemical supply is in Texas and Louisiana. And so many of these supermarkets have actually rolled back their policies. Talk about consistency! Harmful to human health 6. YouTube, Follow us on All donations doubled for a limited time. All of these policies give consumers a little more freedom, but try to nudge them in the right direction through small fees or rewards in the 5 to 15 cent per bag range. Facebook, Follow us on Amid fracking boom, Pennsylvania faces toxic wastewater reckoning. Only 2.4 percent of the worlds cropland is planted with cotton, yet it accounts for 24 percent of the global market for insecticides and 11 percent for pesticides, the World Wildlife Fund reports. ITS INSATIABLE! Its like the Snapchat of ocean trash its no YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, or Twitter, but its still relevant. Thats one idea that Ive seen floated all over the internet. In Staten Island, perhaps? I guess the name does make sense. Banning plastic bags may come with unintended consequences - TechCrunch And so I was interested in understanding to what degree does a patchwork of policies actually lead customers to switch where theyre shopping. Paper bags do have some pros over plastic theyre biodegradable, recyclable, compostable, reusable, all the fun -ables. Studies of bags environmental impacts over their life cycle have reached widely varying conclusions. ETHAN: Another thing I wanted to bring up part of why I was so excited to talk to you is that there is the word behavioral economics in your work. Plastic bags are made from non-renewable sources and on this account, highly contribute to climate change. Thats primarily because more energy is required to produce and transport paper bags. But that understanding of each bags impact is not taken into account when we make a sweeping plastic bag ban. TAYLOR: Yes. So paper and plastic as litter paper, you know, decomposes, it breaks down, its not as harmful to the environment, if it if its litter. ETHAN: So just to wrap up this point, would you say that its a net positive or negative? Seeing how nuanced this issue is, I asked Dr. Taylor what the next steps could look like. CLIP: Its been more than five years since single-use plastic bags like these were banned from grocery stores, a ban advocates say made strides for the environment. And just like that, a step towards zero waste is taken, and it feels good. Now, obviously, there are still benefits of reducing our consumption of plastic. The first time you say your dog ate it, its a funny story, but by the fifth time, youre definitely going to fail first grade. I mean, I know it loves to hang at the cracker plants and all but wouldnt it have more fun hanging out with other creatures of the night?
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