| >Though intended to be reused many times, the report says 90% of the new reusable bags are used a mere two or three times. This is easily fixed. I know because I fixed myself and if I can change this behavior anyone can. I've been using the same three cloth bags to carry my groceries once per week for over ten years. That's, at a bare minimum (because they hold more), 1,560 plastic bags not used. How does the carbon carbon footprint and greenhouse gas emissions of 1,560 plastic bags compare to the three "Earthwise EXTRA LARGE Grocery Bag Beach Shopping Tote HEAVY DUTY 12 oz Cotton Canvas Multi Purpose 20" x 14" PROUDLY MADE IN THE USA (Natural)" that I purchased for $13.99 for in 2012? Yes, it took me a while to get in the habit of using them. A frustratingly long time. But it happened. My county recently banned ALL plastic bags so for the occasional drug store or gas station purchase that used to come in a plastic bag I purchased a packable tote that stuffs down to the size of a pack of playing cards and keep it in my center console of my car. That habit was established instantly. I know for an unassailable and irrefutable fact that bans work because I am a volunteer watershed steward. It is my job to poke around storm drains and shorelines in my little section of the Chesapeake Bay to make sure they are clean. Less than 90 days (four big cleanup pushes per year) after a styrofoam ban was enacted several years ago the amount of styrofoam I was personally responsible for picking up off the shoreline plummeted from "a depressingly large shit-ton" down to almost nothing. |