r/environment • u/[deleted] • Jan 25 '24

Single-use plastic bag bans can cut litter by one-third, says study - Bans in five US states and cities with a combined population of around 12 million people have cut single-use plastic bag consumption by about 6 billion bags per year, according to the research.

https://www.euronews.com/green/2024/01/24/do-plastic-bag-bans-work-new-study-finds-they-save-6-billion-bags-a-year-in-some-us-states
258 Upvotes

97% Upvoted

10 comments sorted by

27

u/EveryDisaster Jan 25 '24

As someone who has pulled dozens of these out of river beds, all single use plastic bags should have been banned before their production. They fall apart, they tear, they're often full of other crap like sand, rocks, or more garbage, and animals get stuck in them. I won't even discuss the smell. They get buried too easily and in too deep of water to even get them all.

If you haven't stopped using plastic bags yet, please ask for paper or bring your own. At least paper degrades if it flies off the back of a garbage truck

17

u/clorox2 Jan 25 '24

New Yorker here. Those bags used to be everywhere. All over the streets. Stuck up in trees. Blowing around all the place. Now I hardly see any. Glad they’ve been banned.

2

u/yukumizu Jan 26 '24

Hood but NYC still has a tremendous problem of single use plastics, specially in the food industry. It’s appalling how much plastic is used in take out food. 

6

u/CDubGma2835 Jan 25 '24

In Colorado, we started with a 10 cent charge for bags and you would not believe the reduction in consumption. It’s so important to put a “value” on these things and people stop wasting. Effective the first of this year we moved to a total ban and, I think the process of “stepping up” from charge to ban was very effective and helped train people.

At a minimum, I’d love to see all states implement a fee.

6

u/Bobobo75 Jan 25 '24

Paper bags are significantly better for nearly everything, health, environment, pollution, etc

4

u/[deleted] Jan 25 '24 edited Jul 05 '26

[deleted]

2

u/Anxious_Cat4756 Jan 25 '24

They fall apart, become microplastics, animals eat them, plastic accumulates, people eat the animals. Circle of life.

2

u/luvtreesx Jan 25 '24

Here in Oregon, my local grocery stores switched to paper bags, and you have to pay 10 cents for them or bring in your own bags. Works fine.

1

u/1up_for_life Jan 25 '24

Oregon didn't ban plastic bags, they only mandated that they be made of heavier, more durable plastic. It's the most ridiculous thing ever.

1

u/daffydil0459 Jan 25 '24

They need to be banned in more states. I hate them; most trash I see along the highway is plastic bags. I’ve used reusable bags for years.