Banning Plastic Bags Is Great for the World, Right? Not So Fast To revist this article, visit My Profile, then View saved stories. Design and build by Upstatement. For example, because paper bags take up so much more space, more trucks are needed to ship paper bags to a store than to ship plastic bags. Better alternatives are available 10. Twitter, Follow us on 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. (Cindy) Works Cited. Shortly after, the Massachusetts State Senate passed a measure that would ban plastic bags from being dispensed by many retail businesses and require acharge of 10 cents or more for a recycled paper or reusable bag. 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. And cotton, unlike paper, is not currently recycled in most places. Now, there are a few challenges to implementing a monetary policy like this. Wow, that was a tough one. The Bad Astronomer Takes You on a Tour of the Cosmos. Ad Choices, Banning Plastic Bags Is Great for the World, Right? 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. How do we make polyethylene? Even studies conducted with the purest of intentions depend on any number of assumptions. ETHAN: The Sweaty Penguin is presented by Peril and Promise: a public media initiative from The WNET Group in New York, reporting on the issues and solutions around climate change. Banning Plastic Bags Is Great For the World Right Questions 1-5.docx And an estimated 10 million tons of plastic are discarded in the ocean yearly. What do they think this is, a Ritz quick scheme? . WIRED is where tomorrow is realized. Im curious, in your work looking at plastic bags or plastic in general, if there have been any cases of people being irrational actors in the market that just really surprised you or stood out to you. Different studies say different things, but the point is clear: even though paper bags are much better for the environment in the disposal stage, the rest of the supply chain is riddled with problems. If they were going to use a slur for white people, why not name it Karen or Wonderbread? Americans consume more than 10 billion paper bags annually, which is equivalent to 14 million trees. Known as one of the greenest commercial buildings in the world, since it opened its doors on Earth Day in 2013 the Bullitt Center has been setting a new standard for sustainable design. So what was this paper about and what were your findings? So what this tells us is that people were actually doing this very green thing. Plastic bag bans are spreading. But are they truly effective? There are other options though. NADJA: Its perfectly harmless, Laszlo. Single-Use Plastics 101 - NRDC I also looked at paper bags as well. Banning Plastic Bags Is Great for the World, Right? The shift from one single-use bag to another single-use bag may improve one environmental outcome, but be offset by another environmental impact.. One option you may have come across depending on where you live is a plastic bag fee or paper bag fee or reusable bag credit. Not So Fast Like cigarettes, plastic bags have recently gone from a tolerated nuisance to a widely despised and discouraged vice. And those seven ethylene projects are concentrated in just three counties in Texas: Harris County, Jefferson County, and Brazoria County. Or, another idea, what if plastic could be made directly from carbon dioxide that we suck from the atmosphere? Does it get recycled? You know, thats a bit of sort of the speculation of why these behavioral changes occurred. ETHAN: After we drill and frack and insert other PG13 sounding term here, we have to actually turn our fossil fuels into polyethylene. 1999-2023 Grist Magazine, Inc. All rights reserved. [slam the wrong buzz several times, then rewind], Okay, okay cracker? Of those 48, 16 had publicly available air pollution data, so I took a look at that group. Others, like in New York City, treat all single-use bags equally. They are not the largest sources of plastic pollution Plastic waste is indeed a. But it turns out that charging people to use bags is not the same as paying them to bring reusable bags. [booo] Yeah, that was even rough for my standards. Every so often, our star fires off a plasma bomb in a random direction. 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. The only newsroom focused on exploring solutions at the intersection of climate and justice. Both authors of these essays specifically speak about how the use of plastic can be harmful for the mother-nature, and have introduced ways to compensate this loss. The adverse impacts of plastic bags are undeniable: When theyre not piling up in landfills, theyre blocking storm drains, littering streets, getting stuck in trees, and contaminating oceans, where fish, seabirds, and other marine animals eat them or get tangled up in them. Oil and natural gas are also made of carbon and hydrogen, so in addition to using them for energy, we process them into plastic. 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? There are also policy options that dont involve bans. Now theres a breakthrough. Its not easy being a green consumer, in part because there are these different dimensions of environmental impact. People still need bags to bring home their groceries. What if they used solar or wind? And so this is a really tense issue around. And just like that, a step towards zero waste is taken, and it feels good. Climate change, they say, isnt the only form of environmental degradation to worry about. Its what we put in the bag at the grocery store that really matters., 2023 Cond Nast. Some people still keep streaks, I think! If you want to take two minutes to help out The Sweaty Penguin, you can either leave us a five star rating and review or join our Patreon at patreon.com/thesweatypenguin. Nielson & Associates Manhasset, NY : Banning Plastic Bags Is Great for the World, Right? So I wont rehash it all today, but if you listen to our episodes on fracking or the Permian Basin or the Haynesville Shale, youll learn a little bit about the villain origin story of plastic bags, and some of the many issues to which they contribute. And paper bags, when you compare them to plastic bags, they are environmentally more environmentally friendly in some ways, but in other ways, theyre less environmentally friendly. But if communicated to the public well, I think its an interesting idea, and Id be curious to see if a similar approach could work with bags. Microplastics can be ingested by anyone from seabirds to fish to even humans through our food and water, and can cause health issues, reduce appetites, and even increase the risk of mortality. Banning plastic bags is great for the world, right? | Grist Not So Fast" by Ben Adler focuses on the states attempting to end giving out plastic bags for free hoping to reduce plastic waste. Ironic.plastic is still better than cloth, but it just has to be more than single-use. Banning Plastic Bags Is Great for the World, Right? Not So Fast - Pinterest And so this was an unintended consequence of the policy. In May 2016, the New York City Council passed a 5-cent-per-bag fee on single-use bags handed out by most retailers. First, we transport our fossil fuels to a type of petrochemical plant called a cracker. Cracker? Well discuss the extent to which plastic bags are a problem, some of the shortcomings of the trendier solutions, and some other less commonly discussed ideas for how to most sustainably and effectively move forward. This episode of The Sweaty Penguin explores a wide range of issues including plastic bag manufacturing and looks at the shortcomings of some proposed solutions. Eat one less meat dish a week thats what will have a real impact on the environment, says Tyler. But what if reusable bags arent good either? ETHAN: And that wraps up episode 106 of The Sweaty Penguin. ETHAN: And the list of policy approaches goes on and on. Increasingly, environmentalists are pushing for laws that include fees for all single-use bags, and that require paper bags to be made with recycled content, which could lower their carbon footprint. Last month, the New York City Council passed a 5-cent-per-bag fee on single-use bags handed out by most retailers. So some of my recent research was looking at to what extent do we actually see border shopping occur? Plastic is a toxin that stays in the environment, marine animals ingest it, and it enters their bodies and then ours.. Eat one less meat dish a weekthats what will have a real impact on the environment, says Tyler. How do we do that? So the unintended consequences. Instagram, Follow us on How do we do that? Aw, dammit, I was so close! You can order the T-shirt plastic bags in wholesale from Bags . Choking the oceans with Plastics. Now, a new law hopes to take things a step further by banning these: single-use plastic pre-checkout bags that are not recyclable and can contaminate compost facilities. So if its not effective, and its expensive, its not a recommended policy tool. And thats definitely a behavioral effect that we find. As far as I know, nobody has done the definitive analysis, which would necessarily need to have a large number of caveats and qualifications. Not So Fast." But advocates of these laws and journalists who cover the issue often neglect to ask what will replace plastic bags and what the environmental impact of that replacement will be. ITS PAPER. The one perk with bans is that its by far the easiest policy to explain and enforce. If we do that, well see less polluted oceans, improved public health, and maybe, for the first time in history, Polly wont want a cracker. The Massachusetts proposal may not become law this year, but its the latest sign that the plastic bag industry is losing this war. To help combat this waste, several American states have enacted bans on plastic grocery bags. Some social justice activists who work in low-income urban neighborhoods or communities of color also argue that plastic bags are a particular scourge. And beyond that, ethylene itself is a dangerous pollutant. Banning Plastic Bags Is Great for the World, Right? Not So Fast I mean, look at all the kids roaming the streets looking for water after eating a single Saltine. Again. Did you just finish trick or treating? The instinct to favor reusable bags springs from an understandable urge to reduce our chronic overconsumption, but the bags we use are not the big problem. the more right . In addition to being my celebrity couple name with a girl named Polly, polyethylene is a string of carbon and hydrogen atoms. Adler, Ben. And so its the sort of carrots versus sticks story, the sticks of the taxes seem to be much more effective than the carrots of the bonuses. Bag bans cut this litter off at the source: In San Jose, California, a plastic bag ban led to an 89 percent reduction in the number of plastic bags winding up in the citys storm drains. Yeah, that was even rough for my standards. Rough Draft 14 - Writing - The Effects Of Plastic In the essay Thats right, its always the one you most suspect. I know it sounds silly, but it would make a difference. The big difference is that paper does biodegrade eventually. Amid fracking boom, Pennsylvania faces toxic wastewater reckoning. The Sweaty Penguin is presented by Peril and Promise: a public media initiative from The WNET Group in New York, reporting on the issues and solutions around climate change. Im your host, Ethan Brown. I also mistake plastic bags for food sometimes, and let me tell you, Walmart makes a delicious tall kitchen. And buy the thinnest reusable bag that you know, youll actually reuse. Every time you need to process a new batch of polyethylene, you bring it to the facility and say, Polly want a cracker?. Throwing This Out Here: Plastic Bags Are Amazing and You Should Appreciate Them More, Trash Is Ugly, But Recycling Is Downright Beautiful. Not So Fast | WIRED Plastic Bottles Plastic Bags On The Pros and Cons of Banning Plastic Bags by John Stossel Banning Plastic Bags Is Great for the World, Right? Not So Fast Wait, sorry, wrong kind of cracker. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Cond Nast. ETHAN: I think this paper that you did goes to a larger conversation about plastic because we do often zero in on specific products, will complain about straws or about bags or about bottles. (The crunchy rich should already have more than enough tote bags from PBS and Whole Foods.). I guess the name does make sense. So I usually recommend considering a bag tax first. Whereas the small taxes are very effective. This story originally appeared on Grist and is part of the Climate Desk collaboration. 1. Winters are becoming less and less predictable due to climate change, but you dont have to worry because the second you put on a long sleeve shirt and jeans, youll be hearing Mariah Carey blast on every radio in town.