It was a decade ago when California became the first state in the nation to ban single-use plastic bags, ushering in a wave of anti-plastic legislation from coast to coast.

But in the years after California seemingly kicked its plastic grocery sack habit, material recovery facilities and environmental activists noticed a peculiar trend: Plastic bag waste by weight was increasing to unprecedented levels.

According to a report by the consumer advocacy group CALPIRG, 157,385 tons of plastic bag waste was discarded in California the year the law was passed. By 2022, however, the tonnage of discarded plastic bags had skyrocketed to 231,072 — a 47% jump. Even accounting for an increase in population, the number rose from 4.08 tons per 1,000 people in 2014 to 5.89 tons per 1,000 people in 2022.

The problem, it turns out, was a section of the law that allowed grocery stores and large retailers to provide thicker, heavier-weight plastic bags to customers for the price of a dime.

125 points

That is such an idiotic loophole there is no way in hell it wasn’t bought by lobbyists

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49 points

The whole scheme is a farce designed to take what was once complimentary and turn it into a highly profitable side business. It’s the same the world over.

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10 points

I refuse to buy into the scam u can now find me balancing my groceries intop of eavhother as i try navugate from my car to my kitchen. Yes i know i could use a reusable bag but i always forget.

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10 points

What made the difference for me was buying a really nice reusable bag. There’s a brand called Flip and Tumble. They’ll hold an absurd amount of stuff (something like 35lbs, if I remember correctly) and fold down into something smaller than a tennis ball. I keep two in the bottom of my purse and never need a bag. They are expensive (about $18 US), but I’ve had mine for almost 15 years.

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4 points

You & me both. Yes I have a few in the car. No I’m not going back to get it. I’ll probably make it without dropping something.

Its just a small, unnecessary moment of tension in my day. And its mine.

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1 point
*

The fillip to retailers is incidental I suspect. The aim of plastic manufacturers when they engage in the lawmaking process is probably safeguarding their ability to produce plastic at an uninterrupted level. They’re happy to reduce total units provided the units are heavier. The environmental impact doesn’t matter: government and industry will continue forcing the recycling meme so it looks as though the conservation angle is covered. Once their part of the problem is solved, the problem no longer exists :^)

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25 points

You described most CA laws - don’t get me started on CARB and how is just pushing us toward bigger, less efficient cars while killing innovation by smaller engineering shops

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10 points

I’ma have to get you started. Explain yourself.

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1 point
*

It has virtually nothing to do with emissions (as if it did, they would just hook up a sniffer to test and be fine)- instead there are blanket bans on any modification not from Edelbrock or a s couple others unless those companies pay exorbitant fees to be “CARB-approved” which has snuffed out innovation from smaller machine shops. And the loopholes are what has driven cars to be bigger and not more fuel efficient

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2 points

I’ma second. This is officiallly unofficial permission to begin your dissertation on unforeseen consequences. I’m here for this.

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1 point

As the asker of the question and someone who is vaguely interested in maybe one day getting into hot rod building to have an electric that doesn’t have those blasted touch screens, by all means, get started on it.

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3 points

Totally was. In NJ, those poor saps were sold by the grocer lobbyists that the paper and plastic bag ban was good for reducing the amount of plastic bags. NJ is now seeing that there was no reduction in waste, but rather than cost being passed into the consumer. I lol’d so hard because “I told you so”

News 12 reported it on TV, so no, I have no link, but you can go find one.

Same shit, different set of idiots.

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56 points

this isnt just california. they rolled out these thicker bags everywhere so they are no longer ‘single use’ except to the people that use them.

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18 points

In CO this doesn’t seem to be much of a thing. Almost everyone is using reusable fabric bags or no bags at all. I can’t recall seeing thicker bags for sale at any of the retailers I frequent. Many don’t have bags at checkouts at all anymore even though you can buy the thin ones for a dime.

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2 points

ive seen them in at least 3 different states on the east coast

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8 points

Those thicker bags, tear easily and usually don’t survive longer than the trip home. It’s a stupid loophole. They also can’t be washed. So if you do reuse them, it’s a great way to buildup bacteria and molds.

In reality they are thicker single used bags.

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5 points

Here in MO basically everyone has super thin bags that suck ass.

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2 points
*

They literally aren’t even worth using to pickup dog shit here in Florida. Because you’ll get it on your hands.

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2 points

Yep. I’m instacart so I shop basically everywhere. The only places between here and Kansas that I see with good bags are Target and sprouts.

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1 point

And they give me a look and roll their eyes when I place my reusable bag on the counter or have to fight the self checkout machine at Schnucks or Dierbergs to accept that I brought my own bags.

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3 points

Interesting, here in NY grocery stores can’t have any plastic bags. The only bags they have are paper. Restaurants can have plastic bags though.

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1 point

Correct.

NY did not totally fuck up like NJ did, but that’s a song almost as old as time for the most part.

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1 point

The bags sold in NJ aren’t plastic. It is this weird cloth product.

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8 points

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2 points

I don’t know if it is synthetic.

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“banned…”

They never banned them. They just made people have to pay for them, and forced them to be made differently. The new bags are better than before; but they’re still plastic and most people aren’t re-using them.

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29 points

They did this in Chicago too and everyone immediately saw that it wasn’t about reducing plastic, but about getting more money to the city. If they actually cared about plastic, they would actually ban it. And you know what, It’s not hard at all. Think about what people were using in the 70s before plastic on everything was common. Paper grocery bags, wax paper at the deli counter, cardboard cartons for small fruit like blueberries, lettuce and potatoes laying bare on shelves instead of wrapped up in plastic bundles, beverages in cans and glass bottles. If they could do it, we can do it too.

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12 points
Deleted by creator
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2 points

Maybe, but I had already stopped doing this years before because the thin bags became too crappy to re-use for anything. I can’t be the only one

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18 points

The idea of reusable bags was great, but they operated the same as the old plastic bags. They’re thicker, more durable, but most people don’t care enough to bring back their old bags, and will just buy new ones because it’s convenient. Speaking from personal experience.

Also, different places have different protocols, sometimes they make you bag your own groceries if you bring your own bags. Again, some people won’t bother.

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