this post was submitted on 13 Feb 2024
266 points (97.8% liked)

News

23274 readers
3543 users here now

Welcome to the News community!

Rules:

1. Be civil


Attack the argument, not the person. No racism/sexism/bigotry. Good faith argumentation only. This includes accusing another user of being a bot or paid actor. Trolling is uncivil and is grounds for removal and/or a community ban. Do not respond to rule-breaking content; report it and move on.


2. All posts should contain a source (url) that is as reliable and unbiased as possible and must only contain one link.


Obvious right or left wing sources will be removed at the mods discretion. We have an actively updated blocklist, which you can see here: https://lemmy.world/post/2246130 if you feel like any website is missing, contact the mods. Supporting links can be added in comments or posted seperately but not to the post body.


3. No bots, spam or self-promotion.


Only approved bots, which follow the guidelines for bots set by the instance, are allowed.


4. Post titles should be the same as the article used as source.


Posts which titles don’t match the source won’t be removed, but the autoMod will notify you, and if your title misrepresents the original article, the post will be deleted. If the site changed their headline, the bot might still contact you, just ignore it, we won’t delete your post.


5. Only recent news is allowed.


Posts must be news from the most recent 30 days.


6. All posts must be news articles.


No opinion pieces, Listicles, editorials or celebrity gossip is allowed. All posts will be judged on a case-by-case basis.


7. No duplicate posts.


If a source you used was already posted by someone else, the autoMod will leave a message. Please remove your post if the autoMod is correct. If the post that matches your post is very old, we refer you to rule 5.


8. Misinformation is prohibited.


Misinformation / propaganda is strictly prohibited. Any comment or post containing or linking to misinformation will be removed. If you feel that your post has been removed in error, credible sources must be provided.


9. No link shorteners.


The auto mod will contact you if a link shortener is detected, please delete your post if they are right.


10. Don't copy entire article in your post body


For copyright reasons, you are not allowed to copy an entire article into your post body. This is an instance wide rule, that is strictly enforced in this community.

founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
 

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.

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] PhlubbaDubba@lemm.ee 127 points 9 months ago (3 children)

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

[–] TWeaK@lemm.ee 49 points 9 months ago (2 children)

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.

[–] muntedcrocodile@lemmy.world 10 points 9 months ago (2 children)

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.

[–] ArtieShaw@kbin.social 10 points 9 months ago

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.

[–] prex@aussie.zone 4 points 9 months ago

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.

[–] Tregetour@lemdro.id 1 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago)

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 :^)

[–] lps2@lemmy.ml 25 points 9 months ago (3 children)

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

[–] ColeSloth@discuss.tchncs.de 10 points 9 months ago (1 children)

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

[–] lps2@lemmy.ml 1 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago)

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

[–] userflairoptional@lemmynsfw.com 2 points 9 months ago

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

[–] PhlubbaDubba@lemm.ee 1 points 9 months ago

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.

[–] TK420@lemmy.world 3 points 9 months ago

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.