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posted by martyb on Wednesday August 07 2019, @01:14AM   Printer-friendly
from the unintended-consequences dept.

https://www.greenbuildingadvisor.com/article/bans-on-plastic-bags-can-backfire

Governments are increasingly banning the use of plastic products, such as carryout bags, straws, utensils, and microbeads. The goal is to reduce the amount of plastic going into landfills and waterways. And the logic is that banning something should make it less abundant.

However, this logic falls short if people actually reuse those items instead of buying new ones. For example, so-called “single-use” plastic carryout bags can have a multitude of unseen second lives—as trash-bin liners, dog poop bags, and storage receptacles.

A U.K. government study calculated that a shopper would need to reuse a cotton carryout bag 131 times to reduce its global warming potential—its expected total contribution to climate change—below that of plastic carryout bags used once to carry newly purchased goods. To have less impact on the climate than plastic carryout bags also reused as trash bags, consumers would need to use the cotton bag 327 times.


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  • (Score: 2) by KritonK on Wednesday August 07 2019, @03:24PM (1 child)

    by KritonK (465) on Wednesday August 07 2019, @03:24PM (#877102)

    The ones we have over here turn to dust after a few months. I've notice this first hand.

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  • (Score: 3, Funny) by Chocolate on Wednesday August 07 2019, @11:07PM

    by Chocolate (8044) on Wednesday August 07 2019, @11:07PM (#877249) Journal

    After a steak is shoved through it?

    --
    Bit-choco-coin anyone?