[timschmidt]

> it’s not like companies are making a bunch of product just to throw them in the trash

Sure they do. You even mention one in the venerable plastic bag. Is it the best bag? No, of course not. Is it a good bag? Absolutely not. Is it the cheapest bag to produce? You betcha.

Consumers are often presented the least expensive option with the worst outcomes. See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boots_theory

[usrnm]

> Is it the best bag? No, of course not. Is it a good bag? Absolutely not

Plastic is absolutely the best packaging material ever created, it's so good, it feels like magic. It's light, it's cheap, it's waterproof, it's durable and doesn't just decompose, it comes in a miriad shapes and forms and so on. There is a reason it's everywhere

[timschmidt]

> it's cheap, it's waterproof, it's durable

One of those adjectives describes the plastic bag I'm familiar with. Sometimes it lasts long enough to get the food in the house without spilling through a hole which spontaneously appeared in the bag.

[filoeleven]

I remember when that switch at grocers from paper to plastic was taking hold, and you could choose. "Paper or plastic?" was the question asked. Some comedian (probably) had a good one liner: "That'll be 42.39. Kill a tree or choke a fish?"

[XorNot]

It's mostly a good example of why comedians aren't a source of information.

Plantation lumber is a very sustainable industry, and plastic's environmental impact is highly context dependent.

[rtpg]

The plastic bag is sold to businesses! If every supermarket in the world decided to never buy another plastic bag then they would no longer be produced!

There can be a futility to it all in that the “ideal option” simply isn’t produced of course.

I find boots theory is often a bit too convenient in this topic though. There is unlikely to be magic structural solutions that allow every part of your life to remain as convenient. At one point our lives will have to change in structure.

EDIT: to be extra clear, I think systemic coordinated changes is needed. I just think the “it’s the corporations doing this!” narrative to obscure the needs for reorganization of daily life on top of systemic change

[throw310822]

Why don't you pay for a more expensive bag and bring it to the store?

[matthewdgreen]

Many cities have banned plastic bags, and the results have been miraculous for waterways and wetlands. It turns out that shore animals don't benefit as much from "hope a few customers choose the better thing, but otherwise let them take home single-use crap that immediately blows off into natural settings."

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/19/climate/plastic-bag-bans-...

[timschmidt]

Why do you assume I don't? Opinionated defaults matter, as that's what most users will end up using.