The following article describes new research that took place after the California plastic bag ban which found that consumers are buying more plastic bags now than before and with a higher percentage of plastic. Researchers found that sales of small garbage bags increased by 120 percent, medium garbage bags by 64 percent, and tall bags by 6 percent. In total, there was a 40 million pound drop in the consumption of cheap plastic bags that stores used to hand out to customers (the target of the plastic bag ban) and a 12 million pound increase in the consumption of garbage bags. The theory behind all of this is that consumers used to use the free plastic bags given out by stores as trash bags and now with them eliminated, consumers have to buy garbage bags which contain higher amounts of plastic.
This article is a great example of an unintended consequence from trying to do something right. It was disconcerting to know that there was such a large increase in the sales of thicker plastic bags after the plastic bag ban was passed. These findings should spark research into alternatives to plastic garbage bags and innovating technology to make these items more ecologically friendly. Another interesting part of the article noted that Starbucks’ shift to strawless lids has resulted in the company using more plastic because of its higher weight. It is interesting to find out about all these unintended consequences and it will be interesting to see what companies and the government do to address these issues.
I’ve never heard of these unintended consequences, I think it’s interesting to see how people have tried an alternative method to avoid plastic use but continues to use the same ore even more amount of plastic.
Why do you think that their “alternative methods of plastic use” still contains plastic?
I don’t think the technology has quite been developed for completely replacing plastic bags. For example, the paper bags individuals receive from grocery stores are flimsy and can’t hold liquid.
This article is very interesting to me and is a perfect example of an unintended consequence of doing something good. Finding a plastic alternative for trash bags is particularly hard because plastic is more durable than paper. Maybe paper bags that has a wax water sealed coating? Any other ideas?
I found many of the facts and statistics in this article to be quite interesting. A few of the facts I found insightful included the increased numbers of garbage bags, and the fact that Starbucks has increased their plastic production since removing straws. My question to you is: how do you think an average citizen can help reduce the amount of plastic that is being produced?
The average citizen can simply reduce the amount of single-use plastics they use on a daily basis and replace these with reusable items.