Bagged

California's bag ban only created more waste:

Specifically, the weight of plastic bag waste per capita increased after the original ban was passed. Even a study called “Plastic Bag Bans Work,” done by environmental and public interest groups, features a table showing that the amount of plastic bags thrown away per 1,000 people in California rose from 4.08 tons in 2014 to 5.89 tons in 2021. The report blames this on a “loophole” in the law. When the ban on thin, single-use plastic bags went into effect, shoppers were left with a choice between paper bags or heavier, multiuse plastic bags. But many people apparently didn’t reuse these thicker plastic bags as often as politicians imagined that they would, leading to the overall increase in plastic garbage. As a fix, the state Assembly and Senate are moving now to crack down on these carryout bags, which have been permitted for the past 10 years. Yet the legislation doesn’t cover sturdy, reusable bags made of non-woven polypropylene (NWPP), which feels like canvas but is made of plastic. Grocers don’t mind if the government bans other bags if they can sell these at about a dollar or two a pop. But as New Jersey found out after it passed its own plastic bag ban, NWPP ends up in the trash, too, and plastic consumption went up.

Plastic doesn't go away just because you don't use it...