So coronavirus banned your reusable bag. What now?
The truth challenges what we thought we knew about the sustainability of plastic bags.
Grocery stores are starting to ban customers from bringing in their own reusable bags. Why? Allegedly to curb the spread of the lingering coronavirus and to better protect vulnerable workers.
This movement has of course been utmost welcomed by the Plastics Industry Association (PIA). They couldn’t help but to take advantage of a rare opportunity to tout their long vilified product.
The PIA begged the Federal Department of Health & Human Services to declare plastic bags as safer than reusable bags. When that failed, they went on to make a statement of their own. The PIA has since decreed that we are living “longer, healthier and better because of single-use plastics”.
Although it’s true that the coronavirus lingers on a number of surfaces, we don’t know whether it sticks around on cloth.
There is no research on whether reusable bags can coronavirus. So the jury is out on whether Big Plastic is right in their bag crusade.
Either way, some states are repealing or extending the timeline on their mandates to ban single-use plastic. But as it turns out, that might not be such a bad thing.
The research points to the plastic bag ban not doing all too much good. In fact, it could be doing harm.
Plastic
When San Francisco banned stores from providing plastic bags for purchased goods, small plastic bag purchases skyrocketed. Talk about an unintended consequence.
Admittedly, San Francisco’s ban resulted in 40 million less pounds of plastic trash. But, it’s estimated that 30% of this was nullified by the purchase of small plastic bags.
Yep, plastic bag sales increased a dramatic 120% during the first year of the ban”
How and why did this happen? Well, plastic usually isn’t recyclable, but it’s reusable. For one, dog owners still needed to pick up their pooch’s poop — but the new regulations had them shit out of luck. They needed bags, and the only way to get them was by buying them.
As a result, the city was buying thicker and less biodegradable bags rather than using the thinner bags provided by most retailers. While the general decrease in plastic waste is a significant win for our oceans, the ban was far from perfect.
Paper
During their plastic bag ban, San Francisco saw an increase of 80 million pounds of paper trash. That means plastic was mostly being replaced with other plastic, or at times, paper.
It turns out that paper is pretty bad for the environment too.
A paper bag has to be re-used 3 times for the carbon footprint to equate a plastic bag’s.
I don’t know about you, but my paper bag may as well be confetti by the time I walk through my door. There’s no way it’s trustworthy enough to carry eggs again — let alone on two more occasions.
The main issue is the greenhouse gas emissions which occur during paper production. Chopping down trees and processing them with copious amounts of water, fuel and chemicals is gravely polluting.
So yes, paper bags are biodegradable, but they’re still responsible for a serious carbon footprint.
Fabric
At this point, you may be thinking, “thank goodness for the canvas bag!”. Ever adored, chic and practical, the fabric tote is a statement of millennial empathy. It screams “I care about the world and I’m a responsible young adult who didn’t forget to bring their bag to the store!”.
Well, stay loyal to that bag, cause your fidelity is the only way it could potentially do our planet any good.
A cotton shopping bag needs to be reused — brace yourself — 131 times before its carbon footprint breaks even with plastic’s.
Let’s say you own one bag and you shop once a week with it. The bag will recoup its environmental weight in two years and some change.
Is all hope lost? No. We can all still do good, and maybe even better. Your best bet is a non-woven Polypropylene bag. Not ringing a bell? Imagine the iconic Whole Foods grocery bag. Big, bold, beautiful and finally good for the planet.
Non-woven PP (as the bag industry insiders tout it) is significantly cheaper than cotton, and it only needs to be reused 11 times to get on par with plastic.
Your best bet is whatever bag you already have in your house.
What does all this mean for you, coronavirus and the planet? If you’re looking to stay healthy, environmentally aware and sane, then your best bet is actually whatever bag you already have in your house.
If you’ve got a canvas bag, use it! If you’re lucky, you may only have another 50 uses to go before its environmental impact negates.
If your grocery store still allows you to use your own bag, do it.
When it comes to mitigating your risk of contracting coronavirus, the broken record rings true for not only your hands, but your bags: wash them.
And as per usual, the internet’s full of helpful tips for doing just that.
