[trainsplanes]

My worry about the anti-plastic bag push is we're going to rush head first into even less sustainable solutions.

With many people not wanting to carry a bag at all times and global demand rising, we're bound to see more Indonesian rainforests being clear-cut for cheap paper, and "reusable" bags with energy and resource-intensive production methods being used once or twice before being tossed in the garbage or ending up on the side of the road.

With bans on plastic bags should come regulations on actual sustainable substitutes. Require locally made paper with verified sustainable wood/recycled pulp or something similar, or we'll be facing another crisis 10 years from now.

[mgbmtl]

You're in luck. Many European countries and Canada have taxed plastic bags for a few years, so you can explore the results those experiments.

For example, Montreal (and many other canadian cities) started taxing plastic bags in 2018. Then bags under 50 microns we're banned. The larger ones are easier to cleanup and recycle. Around 90% of people carry their reusable bags. I always have a tiny one in my backpack, my partner in her purse, and we keep large ones in the car trunk. The bags are usually made of recycled material.

[everly]

A 5-cent tax isn’t a ban. It’s a reasonable cost for the value that the bag provides carrying your items, especially if that money is put towards reducing impact of improperly disposed-of plastic.