[api]

This is what I see in California with the bag ban. People use multi use bags once, resulting in a net increase in plastic use.

This is a hard problem. A ban will not fix it and may have perverse effects like increasing usage and pollution.

What is so damn bad about paper? Paper is mostly renewable (or can be) and is very biodegradable. Why not just make better paper bags

[gruez]

they're not waterproof (or at least, lose structural integrity when wet), and they have worse climate impact than plastic bags.

[ryanobjc]

Yes climate impact via co2 load is important. But persistent environmental pollutants is also important. That's the essential problem of plastic.

The ideal is a closed carbon loop, and the primary blocker here is the continued use of oil, coal, and gas.

[Asooka]

How do they have worse impact? I thought they're made of renewable lumber and compost better than plastic?

[gruez]

The numbers: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/...

>I thought they're made of renewable lumber and compost better than plastic?

All of which is irrelevant to climate impact. Taking oil out of the ground, turning it into plastic bags, then burying it is carbon neutral, if we ignore the energy required for processing. This is fair because it also takes energy to process pulp to make paper bags. Composting actually causes co2 to be released, so that's actually counterproductive.