Whether its paper, whether its plastic, can we reuse it, you know, extend its life? In accordance with the budge bill passed last year, New York State retailers will be banned from doling out single-use plastic bags, starting on March 1. Cities and states across the country are banning plastic bags, but those bans may be having unintended consequences. 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. I hope at least one of those cracked you up. And in particular, stores start offering thicker plastic bags and sticker paper bags for free. We use [drumroll] oil and gas! And so in terms of ranking those, that would be my order, taxes, hybrid bands, and then least preferred standalone bands. Three reasons why banning plastic bags is problematic - The Conversation They are a lot easier to carry than many other shopping bags out there. To revist this article, visit My Profile, then View saved stories. Scientists believe lasting symptoms following a coronavirus infection is not a single disorder. Banning Plastic Bags Is Great for the World, Right? Not So Fast The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Cond Nast. Washington, D.C.s 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. If so, awesome, although we should probably talk about why youre that obsessed with your tote bag. Not only are there these human health concerns, but crackers and other petrochemical facilities are not located very fairly. Throwing This Out Here: Plastic Bags Are Amazing and You Should Appreciate Them More, Trash Is Ugly, But Recycling Is Downright Beautiful. (The crunchy rich should already have more than enough tote bags from PBS and Whole Foods.). Ironic.plastic is still better than cloth, but it just has to be more than single-use. ETHAN: Its true. Not good places to be adding more polluting facilities. Its taken long enough. Bag bans seem to be all the rage, but its not the only option. You can try, but nine times out of ten, its going to rip your original in half. ETHAN: Clips today came from 23 ABC News. Obtain that grain. Why Is Banning Plastic Bags So Important? NatureCode Are Plastic Bag Bans a Solution? But when ethylene gas escapes the facility and is exposed to sunlight, it turns to smog, which has been associated with increased rates of asthma, lung and respiratory infections, and cardiovascular problems. And so because of that bands have been more popular. Do Plastic Bag Bans Work? - NRDC The Australian study concluded that the best option appears to be a reusable bag, but one made from recycled plastic. On The Pros and Cons of Banning Plastic Bags by John Stossel Like blueberries or trips to the bathroom, not all plastics are created equal, and single-use plastic bags are typically made from a material called high-density polyethylene. 500 billion plastic grocery bags are used worldwide. Rough Draft 10 - Written progress - 'Banning plastic bags is great for Banning Plastic Bags Is Great for the World, Right? Now theres a breakthrough. Plastic is a toxin that stays in the environment, marine animals ingest it, and it enters their bodies and then ours.. And then sometimes theres these added responses that are unintended. And all of these materials do better? 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. So the unintended consequences. the Massachusetts State Senate passed a measure that would ban plastic bags from being dispensed by many retail businesses and require a charge of 10 cents or more for a recycled paper or reusable bag. Our world faces increasingly severe hurricanes, wildfires, floods, heat waves, and more, but grocery bags have somehow become one of the hottest environmental topics. ITS INSATIABLE! I hardly know her! the more right . Its like time outs. So I was really interested to see what the data would say about this were people having to buy more garbage bags now that the plastic bags that they got from grocery stores were no longer available. First off, I had a lot of cracker jokes, but more importantly being a heat intensive process, the production of plastic bags requires a good amount of energy, and it should come as no surprise that these petrochemical facilities typically use natural gas for their electricity source. Im really proud of this one and I hope you enjoy it! Its vital reporting made entirely possible by loyal readers like you. So if its not effective, and its expensive, its not a recommended policy tool. Again, because this is what I tell people all the time. Donate today tohelp keep Grists site and newsletters free. And thats just not true. Not So Fast' by Ben Adler & 'Choking the oceans with plastic' by Charles J. Moore. But thats not to say plastic bag recycling couldnt be more widely implemented. And the most common substitute, paper bags, may be just as bad or worse, depending on the environmental problem youre most concerned about. The Massachusetts proposal may not become law this year, but its the latest sign that the plastic bag industry is losing this war. How Do We Protect Avocados From Drought, Deforestation, and Drug Cartels? Studies of bags environmental impacts over their life cycle have reached widely varying conclusions. Yeah, that was even rough for my standards. First, we transport our fossil fuels to a type of petrochemical plant called a cracker. Cracker? You can learn more at pbs.org/perilandpromise. 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. Oil and natural gas are also made of carbon and hydrogen, so in addition to using them for energy, we process them into plastic. The larger takeaway is that no bag is free of environmental impact, whether thats contributing to climate change, ocean pollution, water scarcity, or pesticide use. And in pretty much any case, people shift to an alternative type of grocery bag, and while plastic is unique in that it does not decompose, other types of bags have issues of their own. 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. What if they used solar or wind? ETHAN: And youve written several papers on plastic bags, Ill start with your paper that won the Journal of Environmental Economics and Managements Best Paper Prize in 2020, which discussed some of the unintended consequences of plastic bag bans. 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. 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. 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. And behavioral economics really explores a lot of that. The measure now under consideration in Massachusetts, for example, would mandate that single-use paper bags contain at least 40 percent recycled fiber. Politicians "looking for something to do" like banning plastic bags routinely do more harm than good. 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. 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. TAYLOR: Yes. Banning plastic bags is great for the world, right? I mean, look at all the kids roaming the streets looking for water after eating a single Saltine. Some bills, like in Massachusetts, try to reduce the use of paper bags as well as plastic, but still favor paper. So that means fewer animals getting entangled over time which is good, but unfortunately, it also means plastic bags take a lot less time to become microplastics. Again, Im not referring to carbon emissions, Im talking nitrous oxide, particulate matter, carbon monoxide, smog, Sagittariuses, really bad stuff. I know youve done some comparisons on different strategies and looked at this more holistically. People still need bags to bring home their groceries. Microsoft quietly supported legislation to make it easier to fix devices. Shortly after, the Massachusetts State Senate passed a measure that would ban plastic bags from being dispensed by many retail businesses and require a charge of 10 cents or more for a. One reason plastic bags should be banned is that they hurt the environment. How do you tackle microplastics? Plastic Bags Are a Problem. Are Plastic Bag Bans a Solution? - PBS Improperly discarded bags have polluted waterways, clogged sewers, and been found in oceans, affecting the ecosystem of marine creatures. TAYLOR: Yeah, I would love to see the conversation, sort of move more. Maybe call the manager over or fly the CEO in on a helicopter or pull the fire alarm so everyone starts screaming and running. Every year, around 500 billion plastic grocery bags are used worldwide. New York State and Hawaii just passed theirs, set to go into effect in 2020, and California's bag ban, which was passed in 2014, has been shown to have reduced plastic bag usage by 85 percent . Before I jump in, were trying out a little bit of a different format today. And thats actually increasing the carbon footprint. [wind blowing, floors creaking, various night time sounds]. But sales of garbage bags increased substantially and especially those small garbage bags that you know, are around the same size as the carryout back. Why We Shouldn't Ban Plastic Bags So what was this paper about and what were your findings? AD READER: Is it 12:01am on November 1st? 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. 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. As far as I know, nobody has done the definitive analysis, which would necessarily need to have a large number of caveats and qualifications. And those seven ethylene projects are concentrated in just three counties in Texas: Harris County, Jefferson County, and Brazoria County. The larger takeaway is that no bag is free of environmental impact, whether thats contributing to climate change, ocean pollution, water scarcity, or pesticide use. 2. How Can Soy Reduce Its Environmental Impact? [knock on door, door creaks open, then Laszlo starts coughing uncontrollably]. Banning Plastic Bags Is Great for the World, Right? Not So Fast Of those 48, 16 had publicly available air pollution data, so I took a look at that group. ETHAN: And that wraps up episode 106 of The Sweaty Penguin. Seeing how nuanced this issue is, I asked Dr. Taylor what the next steps could look like. So have at least 88 localities in California, including the cities of Los Angeles and San Francisco, plus cities and towns in more than a dozen other states and more than a dozen other countries. In 2018 though, 68.1 percent of paper consumed in the United States was recovered for recycling, which is a really impressive number, although its worth noting that paper fibers become weaker each time theyre recycled, so there are still limitations to that. With a referendum in November 2016, California became the first state to ban single-use plastic bags, according to the National Conference on State Legislatures, which keeps an active list of American laws. Whats more? Thats one idea that Ive seen floated all over the internet. Paper bags do have some pros over plastic theyre biodegradable, recyclable, compostable, reusable, all the fun -ables. Natasha Mascarenhas. The Secrets of Covid Brain Fog Are Starting to Lift. Now, there are a few challenges to implementing a monetary policy like this. What I found was a net benefit, we were still reducing more plastic than this rebound effect. 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. 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? Banning plastic bags may come with unintended consequences - TechCrunch 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. New York's ban will take effect in 2020 but will apply to single-use plastic bags you can get at grocery stores or retailers. debut in season five. Not easy to recycle 7. What she finds is actually leave the bag bonuses really dont have an effect. Talk about consistency! 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. ETHAN: Today we are talking about bags: a word that simultaneously means a container with an open top used for carrying things, a lot of money, and any goal youve ever had in your life. In fact, we can take it a step further. A New Computer Proof Blows Up Centuries-Old Fluid Equations. Those are the kinds of topics that I focus on in my research.
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