China bans plastic bags

…another ill thought out plan, to correct a non-existent problem…that exacerbates it…into a serious problem? Got it. Thanks for libsplaining it. :sunglasses:

Markets don’t have wants. Individuals do. And those wants are shaped by decisions made by vendors, politicians, retailers, etc. Single use bags made more money for plastics manufacturers and when you give customers bags so flimsy that they have to put two or three together to hold any weight of groceries, the message of “throw this away” is clear.

Since playing the fiddle requires study and discipline, modern day Neros have to content themselves with poking fun at liberals while Rome burns.

Quite silly.

Something is invented. The patent is sold. The market makes something that wasn’t the intent.

Happens all the time.

Basic hygiene would preclude introducing potential contamination sources like a bag with last weeks spilled milk that an elderly customer did not see and inadvertently introduces to the produce offerings.

People don’t always launder their clothes either.

:man_shrugging:t3:

1 Like

Some of us trust people to be responsible for themselves, while you look for the nanny state to control all possibilities of risk. Typical conservative response.

1 Like

If you want a good laugh, go look up the environmental impact of an organic cotton tote bag versus a plastic grocery bag. Don’t forget to include washing it regularly when looking for the break even.

1 Like

The environmental assessment that didn’t take into account the impact on marine wildlife?

That assessment?

That elderly person (and anyone else) is a contamination source just by touching produce.

If you use your own bags, how would the spilt milk get into your groceries?

1 Like

English exec summary begins on page 13 and notes the usage and disposal method required for a dozen bag types to achieve optimal impact.

Some critics noted that this study doesn’t take into account the post-disposal environmental impact, but this report from the Danish illustrates your point.

I didn’t have a specific one in mind.

The most often cited one is Denmark’s life cycle assessment.

It only looked at energy and water usage and did not have any data on ocean waste.

Plastic getting into the food web is becoming more and more of a problem.

It takes less energy to produce a single use plastic bag than a cotton bag, but the waste from it’s use lasts pretty much forever.

So it is what is more important. Emissions or environmental contamination.

1 Like

What annoys me is that you have to seemingly choose which negative impact you want - marine life or climate change, for example.

There’s really no winning…

The conundrum is well represented here at 1:40.

1 Like

I love that show.

I am aware of that one. They also didn’t factor in washing them. My point though was how shocking the cost of organic cotton is right out of the gate, even just compared to regular cotton. Knowing that there are plenty of eco-conscious people who would automatically associate organic with green.

As for marine impact, fairly minimal concern in the US, we do a pretty decent job of keeping ours out of the ocean, not a perfect job but a decent one. And I think we can assume that anyone who cares enough to read studies when deciding what type of bag to use would know how to dispose of their eventual choice responsibly.

Cotton bags are one option. There are others. My local Safeway sells reusable plastic bags for $1. Not sure about the source but I read somewhere that a consumer needs to use them 6-7 times to justify using them over ordinary plastic bags.

Does anyone disagree that reducing our consumption of non-biodegradable, single use plastics is a good thing?

Again, I wasn’t defending plastic bags there, more highlighting why organic cotton is also a pretty poor choice.

“Organic” anything is falling for marketing.

Hey… one wants to pay more for no benefit, then go right ahead.

Just go back to paper bags.

I don’t see the problem with that.

Rule out paper, and you end up with rock-and-a-hard-place problems competing for SJW angst.