Theyre just not very effective. Many supermarkets have experimented with bag bonuses trying to get people to reuse their either bags by giving them five cents, and they havent found them to be particularly effective. Fees have a smaller, but still significant, effect. Heres Dr. Taylor discussing some of her research on that front. Whether its paper, whether its plastic, can we reuse it, you know, extend its life? As compared to plastic bags, paper bags also require significantly more energy and water to manufacture, and more energy to transport since theyre heavier. Like, get a life, man. 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. What do they think this is, a Ritz quick scheme? 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. 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. The remaining 21 percent, of course, came from the Kardashians. Some people still keep streaks, I think! Thats leading to a split in the anti-bag movement. New clinical trials could more effectively reach solutions. Or is it a little too nuanced to make that type of assessment? Every year, around 500 billion plastic grocery bags are used worldwide. Fees have a smaller, but still significant, effect. [slam the wrong buzz several times, then rewind] Okay, okay cracker? TAYLOR: Yeah, well, Ill circle back to the three Rs. Spoiler alert: plastics parents got divorced at age eleven and it still isnt over it. India followed the UK with a . Climate change, they say, isnt the only form of environmental degradation to worry about. People look at [paper] and say its degradable, therefore its much better for the environment, but its not in terms of climate change impact, says David Tyler, a professor of chemistry at the University of Oregon who has examined the research on the environmental impact of bag use. Very broadly, carbon footprints are proportional to mass of an object, says Tyler. 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. What if instead of making the plastic from fossil fuels, we made it out of plants? Now, obviously, there are still benefits of reducing our consumption of plastic. They do not necessarily reflect the opinions or views of Peril and Promise or The WNET Group. In some cases, people start buying more plastic trash bags now that they cant use their grocery bags to store trash. 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. ETHAN: So just to wrap up this point, would you say that its a net positive or negative? In the last couple weeks, I believe around five of our team members got sick, so weve been struggling a little bit! I also mistake plastic bags for food sometimes, and let me tell you, Walmart makes a delicious tall kitchen. ETHAN: Like, come on, we dont need more toxic chemicals in one spot! The Australian study concluded that the best option appears to be a reusable bag, but one made from recycled plastic. TAYLOR: So an interesting thing with local policies, and theres a lot of debate about whether policies like these should be implemented at the state level or at the local level. Once ethylene is turned into plastic, its not harmful, youre not going to get a disease just by touching a plastic bag, unless its March 2020 when every cashier in America was convinced thats how Covid spreads. And in particular, stores start offering thicker plastic bags and sticker paper bags for free. In that case, it was the simple act of instead of automatically giving customers a straw with their drink, bringing the drink without a straw. And so I was interested in understanding to what degree does a patchwork of policies actually lead customers to switch where theyre shopping. 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. You know, thats a bit of sort of the speculation of why these behavioral changes occurred. Seeing how nuanced this issue is, I asked Dr. Taylor what the next steps could look like. Not a fan of arcade games, I guess. And do you think that it is more broadly true that cracking down on one specific plastic product can have rebound effects with other plastic products, or is this maybe a more isolated case that you found? If your chief concern is climate change, things get even muddier. 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? Yes, this was a paper that was interested in how sometimes we dont always think about how people respond to policies, theyre sort of the obvious response. TAYLOR: When I put my economist hat, the sort of first tool that I really think that policymakers should consider is a small fee, or a tax on all the different types of carry out bags. 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. But what if reusable bags arent good either? And thats not purchasing garbage bags. Scientists are getting closer to understanding the neurology behind the memory problems and cognitive fuzziness that an infection can trigger. A lot of the waste ends up in our communities, says Elizabeth Yeampierre, executive director of UPROSE, an environmental and social justice-oriented community organization in Brooklyn. This material which is widely used worldwide has been an issue for years now and these readings gives some explanation on why. (The crunchy rich should already have more than enough tote bags from PBS and Whole Foods.). ETHAN: Obviously, bags are the only policy option like we talked about theres fees theres more voluntary approaches You know, with straws, something that intrigued me was default choice modification. Natasha Mascarenhas. How do we make polyethylene? Polyethylene, however, is recyclable. When the plastic bags were banned in California, paper bags were still allowed with the feet. Again, Im not referring to carbon emissions, Im talking nitrous oxide, particulate matter, carbon monoxide, smog, Sagittariuses, really bad stuff. ETHAN: That new ban was signed into law on September 30, and the fact that it was in the news goes to show that even with all the other things going on in the world, people are paying attention to this issue. . Throwing This Out Here: Plastic Bags Are Amazing and You Should Appreciate Them More, Trash Is Ugly, But Recycling Is Downright Beautiful. You start growing weird pimples at 10, youre crying five times a week at 15, and by 20, someone has to carry you into a therapists office, throw you on the couch, and say its broken, fix it. For plastic though, 20 years is much less time than most other single-use plastic products. Oil and natural gas are also made of carbon and hydrogen, so in addition to using them for energy, we process them into plastic. And buy the thinnest reusable bag that you know, youll actually reuse. 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. As far as I know, nobody has done the definitive analysis, which would necessarily need to have a large number of caveats and qualifications. Then, that ethylene can be sent to a new plant where theyll add a catalyst which initiates a chemical reaction and forms our high-density polyethylene. Its what we put in the bag at the grocery store that really matters., 2023 Cond Nast. So I often tell people, if theyre choosing a bag, you want to choose a bag that you are going to reuse that could be a thin bag, then plastic bag, or it could be a nylon bag, which is technically still plastic, but is a woven plastic thats fairly lightweight, and thus, perhaps not going to have the same environmental impact as a heavier plastic or a cloth bag. The one perk with bans is that its by far the easiest policy to explain and enforce. The measure now under consideration in Massachusetts, for example, would mandate that single-use paper bags contain at least 40 percent recycled fiber. And then if when those you know are no longer possible, can we recycle them? The ideal city bag policy would probably involve charging for paper and plastic single-use bags, as New York City has decided to do, while giving out reusable recycled-plastic bags to those who need them, especially to low-income communities and seniors. Whats more? 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. Now a hybrid ban, where you ban a particular thin plastic or film plastic, as long as theres also consideration for the other types of bags such as paper bags, and reusable bags, and requiring stores to charge for those other bags. What she finds is actually leave the bag bonuses really dont have an effect. 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. There was a 72 percent drop in grocery bag litter in the state just one year after it was fully implemented. What a deal! Last month, the New York City Council passed a 5-cent-per-bag fee on single-use bags handed out by most retailers. To support our nonprofit environmental journalism, please consider disabling your ad-blocker to allow ads on Grist. 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. For more than 250 years, mathematicians have wondered if the Euler equations might sometimes fail to describe a fluids flow. Special thanks to our Emperor Penguin patrons Lawrence Harris and Brownies Central. Others, like in New York City, treat all single-use bags equally. 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 taken long enough. by John Stossel | May 5, 2020. As part of our commitment to sustainability, in 2021 Grist moved its office headquarters to the Bullitt Center in Seattles vibrant Capitol Hill neighborhood. Nakuru, Kenya In the open-air Wakulima Market thin plastic shopping bags have disappeared, banished by Kenya's national bag ban. So is there anything you would suggest to policymakers as they tried to address the issue? What Comes Next for Venezuelas Oil Industry? 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. Thats right, its always the one you most suspect. ETHAN: Plastic bag bans also can negatively affect businesses. Have a listen. Solar and wind companies are coming to rural Texas. How many plastic bags are replaced by one cotton tote bag? Cracker? Cities and states across the country are banning plastic bags, but those bans may be having unintended consequences. I took a look at a 2017 Congressional Report which found the petrochemical industry was, at the time, pursuing 48 new plastics-related projects in the Houston area. 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. ETHAN: Clips today came from 23 ABC News. 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. The Australian study concluded that the best option appears to be a reusable bag, but one made from recycled plastic, not cotton. The measure now under consideration in Massachusetts, for example, would mandate that single-use paper bags contain at least 40 percent recycled fiber. In fact, we can take it a step further. 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. 4 Absent the fee, which provides the economic incentive to bring reusable bags to the store, simple bans tend to shift consumers from one type . Were finding that hybrid bands can be as you know, as successful as the taxes, just standalone taxes. 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. 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. A lot of the waste ends up in our communities, says Elizabeth Yeampierre, executive director of UPROSE, an environmental and social justice-oriented community organization in Brooklyn. The big difference is that paper does biodegrade eventually. Two weeks ago, 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. 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. I mean, throw some Dijon on there and youve got lunch! Some bills, like in Massachusetts, try to reduce the use of paper bags as well as plastic, but still favor paper. If so, awesome, although we should probably talk about why youre that obsessed with your tote bag. So paper bag usage did increase quite a bit. So if its something thats easy to keep in your car, or in your purse or in your backpack that you know youll reuse, then thats going to be the bag for you. 1999-2023 Grist Magazine, Inc. All rights reserved. 2. And those seven ethylene projects are concentrated in just three counties in Texas: Harris County, Jefferson County, and Brazoria County. Two weeks ago, 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. The reasons for papers higher carbon footprint are complex, but can mostly be understood as stemming from the fact that paper bags are much thicker than plastic bags. Its like excuses for not doing your homework. Theyre less than five millimeters across and they are everywhere, from the oceans to mountaintops to the Arctic to our food and blood. 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? 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? And an estimated 10 million tons of plastic are discarded in the ocean yearly. For example, I talked in our plastic straws episode about something called default choice modification. But it turns out that charging people to use bags is not the same as paying them to bring reusable bags. And behavioral economics really explores a lot of that. 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. There are also policy options that dont involve bans. 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. Here's How. 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. But not just anywhere. High costs for cleanup 8. ITS COMPOSTABLE! Instagram, Follow us on Donate today to keep our climate news free. The WIRED conversation illuminates how technology is changing every aspect of our livesfrom culture to business, science to design. And now theyre using a thicker product with more packaging. Paper bags do have some pros over plastic theyre biodegradable, recyclable, compostable, reusable, all the fun -ables. Its not easy being a green consumer, in part because there are these different dimensions of environmental impact. But in terms of plastic, you are correct. 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. 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 Secrets of Covid Brain Fog Are Starting to Lift. Plastic Bags Take Up To 1,000 Years to Decompose. 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. ETHAN: Does this mean bag bans are bad or bag alternatives are bad? Eat one less meat dish a week thats what will have a real impact on the environment, says Tyler. Wait, sorry, wrong kind of cracker. How Do We Protect Them? 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. Twitter, Follow us on LASZLO: Oh, alright, if itll shut you up. Have a listen. Bag bans seem to be all the rage, but its not the only option. Better alternatives are available 10. But what if reusable bags arent good either? Cracker? Over Half of the Worlds Penguin Species Are Threatened, A New Natural Gas Project in Mozambique Gives Locals All of the Costs and None of the Benefits. Reader support helps sustain our work. Banning Plastic Bags Is Great for the World, Right? 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. Its like time outs. Banning Plastic Bags Is Great for the World, Right? 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. Salt Marshes Are Essential Climate Solutions. 500 billion plastic grocery bags are used worldwide. Very broadly, carbon footprints are proportional to mass of an object, says Tyler. Hopefully its not laced with xylene! ETHAN: When environmentalists talk about plastic bags though, its often not about the production process, but rather what happens after we throw them out. California and Hawaii banned them, then New York. They increase their sales by almost 120%. Banning Plastic Bags Is Great for the World, Right? So were still figuring it out right now, but weve got a great episode for you today. The Massachusetts proposal may not become law this year, but it's the latest sign that the plastic bag industry is losing this war. Choking the oceans with Plastics. 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. 1- Out of all the bags that are currently available in the market, plastic bags are the most convenient for consumers. In other words, rather than emitting carbon, they would take carbon out of the atmosphere. Plastic bags are made from non-renewable sources and on this account, highly contribute to climate change. In fact, every region of the US has a different energy mix. Cause of environmental pollution 2. ETHAN: But first, its time for Plastic Bags 101. That's why any good plastic bag ban attempts to avoid a surge in paper bag use by also implementing a paper bag fee, ideally nudging shoppers to bring bags from home instead. Because of that, the climate impact of a cotton tote is 131 times that of a plastic bag, and its overall environmental impact is thousands of times worse. But for UPROSE, that concern is outweighed by the negative impacts of plastic bags on disadvantaged communities. They were reusing their carry out bags as garbage bags. Its right up there with Taylor Swifts jet, Beyond Burgers, and figuring out which soup is best for throwing at artwork. [slam the wrong buzz several times, then rewind], Okay, okay cracker? Thats right, go get that bag. And thats definitely a behavioral effect that we find. Remember when I said petrochemical facilities use natural gas for electricity? The only newsroom focused on exploring solutions at the intersection of climate and justice. 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 what I found was the policies were very successful in reducing the amount of plastic carry out bags people used at supermarkets, it goes to zero as you would expect with a ban. You can learn more at pbs.org/perilandpromise. Killing wildlife 5. TAYLOR: Yeah, I think one thing that stands out, when we think about plastic bags, and when we think about sort of packaging, in general, is that theres this perception that its free, that theres no price, and that you can you know, youre not paying for the plastic bags that you use, thats not actually true, you actually do pay for the plastic bags that you use at the supermarket.