Saving The Environment, Or Not

For those of us in the Democratic People's Republic of Kalifornia, where state government mandates that grocery stores not use so-called single use grocery bags, this should be obvious--but it doesn't matter.  Our leftie overlords feel good about dictating that we should not use plastic grocery bags, facts be damned:

Restrictions on their use are in place in almost a dozen US states and in many other countries around the world. And in many cases, these efforts have been successful at eliminating new sales of thin, wispy plastic bags that float up into trees, clog waterways, leech microplastics into soil and water and harm marine life. (Of course, these restrictions don’t address the plastic bags already out there that will take centuries to decompose.)

But this environmental success story of sorts masks another problem.

Many of us are drowning in reusable bags — cloth totes or thicker, more durable plastic bags — that retailers sell cheaply or give away to customers as an ostensibly greener alternative to single-use plastic. (I have 15 cotton totes and 12 heavy-duty plastic bags stashed in a kitchen drawer, only a few of which see the light of day.) 

The author knows there's a problem but can't seem to admit it. 

According to one eye-popping estimate, a cotton bag should be used at least 7,100 times to make it a truly environmentally friendly alternative to a conventional plastic bag.

The answer to what’s the greenest replacement for a single-use plastic bag isn’t straightforward, but the advice boils down to this: Reuse whatever bags you have at home, as many times as you can. 

Read the "unintended consequences" section of the article.  They may have been unintended but they were entirely predictable. 

Interesting information about pollution and recycling in this article.