Plastic bag bans are fairly irritating—they're paternalistic, preachy, and they deprive countless homes of the endless usefulness of the all-purpose plastic bag—but more than that, it appears that they might not actually, you know, work:
Researchers at the University of Georgia suggest that banning the sale of plastic bags may come with a side-dish of unintended consequences.
The new analysis suggests that plastic bag ban policies — while well-intentioned — may end up having the opposite effect. The issue that comes up is that grocery bags are viewed as single-use items, but they often get a (brief) second lease on life as liners for small trash cans. Without the shopping bags available, people look for alternatives — which the researchers suggest means they buy small plastic garbage bags.
Okay, since we're now talking about garbage bans, and since we're all thinking it, I just want to ask: Is there anything more satisfying than shaking out a plastic garbage bag?
I didn't think so!
Anyway, the numbers are quite striking:
Keeping in mind the second life that plastic grocery bags take on in many homes, the team measured plastic trash bag sales in counties with bans or fees in place and compared them to other counties without such policies. The study found California communities with bag policies saw sales of four-gallon trash bags increase by 55%, to 75%, and sales of eight-gallon trash bags increase 87%, to 110%
Yeah numbers like that don't lie (and this isn't even factoring in the data like the cost to make reusable or paper bags)!
Plus when you think about it, garbage bags are usually a good bit thicker than grocery store bags, so the quantity of plastic used is probably even more than it seems at face value.
Who would've thought a liberal initiative like this would backfire??
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