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posted by Fnord666 on Tuesday August 29 2017, @03:32PM   Printer-friendly
from the costly-takeout dept.

In an effort to reduce plastic bag pollution, Kenya has introduced tough laws that will result in a prison term of up to 4 years or a maximum of $40,000 for any Kenyan producing, selling or even using plastic bags, although initial enforcement will target manufacturers and suppliers.

"The East African nation joins more than 40 other countries that have banned, partly banned or taxed single use plastic bags, including China, France, Rwanda and Italy."

Bags can take 500-1000 years to decompose, in the mean time killing or harming wildlife and entering the human food chain.
What is being done about plastic bag pollution where you live?


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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday August 29 2017, @04:06PM (9 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday August 29 2017, @04:06PM (#560874)

    I can't tell if this is serious or joking. If serious, buy a $2 durable and reusable bag, then you can plea down from murder to planetslaughter.

  • (Score: 2) by Pino P on Tuesday August 29 2017, @04:59PM (8 children)

    by Pino P (4721) on Tuesday August 29 2017, @04:59PM (#560926) Journal

    If serious, buy a $2 durable and reusable bag

    How many natural resources are used and how much emissions are created in the production of the $2 bag compared to that of the recently prohibited bag? And how many natural resources are used and how much emissions are created when a $2 bag is washed after every use [ctvnews.ca]?

    And if a dog owner can no longer reuse one-way carrier bags to dispose of dog waste, what should a dog owner use instead?

    • (Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday August 29 2017, @05:08PM (2 children)

      by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday August 29 2017, @05:08PM (#560935)

      Poop bags are a problem, I don't see an easy solution there.

      For grocery shopping, a decent reusable bag should last decades. If you are a responsible person and manage to use that bag the majority of the time then in a single year you will already have saved on the physical material side. Each reusable bag load is 2-5X the capacity of the crappy plastic bags, and often those crappy bags are doubled up anyway to prevent them from breaking. So in some cases 4-10 shitty plastic bags are saved per use of the reusable. Over the lifetime of the reusable bag (which can also be used in other situations) I can't imagine this argument as being even slightly plausible.

      • (Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday August 29 2017, @06:03PM

        by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday August 29 2017, @06:03PM (#560971)

        Poop bags are a problem, I don't see an easy solution there.

        The solution is simple: don't own a dog, especially in an urban setting.

      • (Score: 2) by urza9814 on Wednesday August 30 2017, @03:46PM

        by urza9814 (3954) on Wednesday August 30 2017, @03:46PM (#561538) Journal

        Poop bags are a problem, I don't see an easy solution there.

        My girlfriend uses biodegradable bags for her dog. I mean I guess they're still plastic of some form, but if the point is to prevent environmental impact those should work.

        Each reusable bag load is 2-5X the capacity of the crappy plastic bags, and often those crappy bags are doubled up anyway to prevent them from breaking. So in some cases 4-10 shitty plastic bags are saved per use of the reusable.

        People have no faith in the strength of modern plastics. I pile those disposable bags full until literally nothing else will fit, and I've never had one break. And I never double-bag. I'll throw three 64oz juice bottles in one bag, and toss a six-pack of small glass bottles on top of them, and carry it up three flights of stairs. Those bags are a hell of a lot stronger than you think.

        Over the lifetime of the reusable bag (which can also be used in other situations) I can't imagine this argument as being even slightly plausible.

        The reusable bags use as many resources to produce and supply as a couple hundred disposable ones. I'd have to use that thing every time I go shopping for several decades (I got shopping about once a month) before it would break even. I'd almost certainly lose or break the bag before then. A better approach is to reuse the disposable plastic bags, although you *might* want to start double-bagging them after a couple uses if you use them the way I do... ;)

        http://www.opb.org/news/blog/ecotrope/reusable-bags-only-superior-to-plastic-if-you-reuse-them-a-lot/ [opb.org]

    • (Score: 3, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday August 29 2017, @05:23PM (1 child)

      by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday August 29 2017, @05:23PM (#560948)

      > And if a dog owner can no longer reuse one-way carrier bags to dispose of dog waste, what should a dog owner use instead?

      I carry a 7-iron along with on walks.

      • (Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday August 30 2017, @12:13AM

        by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday August 30 2017, @12:13AM (#561235)

        This is Kenya. That is not a "dog owner". That is a restauranteur.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday August 29 2017, @06:07PM (1 child)

      by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday August 29 2017, @06:07PM (#560975)

      The people who scream the most about the alleged environmental impact of plastic bags are always the kind of people who own at least a couple of vanity dogs.

      These people are incapable of realizing that their dogs are far more harmful to the environment than a few plastic bags are.

      • (Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday August 29 2017, @06:14PM

        by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday August 29 2017, @06:14PM (#560983)

        The people who get hysterical and make fales accusations are always the kind of assholes you hope are living a few states away. Stereotypes, while often containing some validity, are bad mmkay? They encourage you to shut off your brain and make false equivalencies that make you feel good / righteous / whatever.

    • (Score: 2) by krishnoid on Tuesday August 29 2017, @06:43PM

      by krishnoid (1156) on Tuesday August 29 2017, @06:43PM (#561005)

      It seems like you have a couple [flushdoggy.com] choices [amazon.com] in degradable/flushable dog poop bags, with some caveats.