Should we ban single-use plastic bags?
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- Опубліковано 14 сер 2018
- We all know single-use plastics bags are a turtle-killing, ocean-polluting, human-caused, problem.
And I know -- plastic pollution is a really tough issue to solve.
Just kidding!…. the solution is f*cking easy: stop f*ckin selling plastic bags! Just ban them! Right?
More than 60 countries have ALREADY banned or taxed plastic bags to reduce plastic pollution, including Australia (whoop whoop), the UK, China, *Bangladesh*. And about 15 African countries. In fact, in Kenya if you even so much as hold a plastic bag, you can be thrown in the slammer. I’m not f*cking kidding, Kenya is hardcore NOT TAKING NO SH*T FROM NO SINGLE USE PLASTIC BAG LOVERS.
But in the US… it’s a different story. The US seems to be the one place on earth that cannot ban plastic, no matter how hard it tries.
That’s not to say that America hasn’t given it a red hot crack! Many states have tried to introduce legislation on plastics that would just, I don’t know, bring them out of the plastic ghetto and up to par with the rest of the developed world.
But only one state has successfully banned disposable plastic bags Guess which one?: Texas. Just joking! It’s California.
So why can’t the rest of the mighty U-S-A get its sh*t together on plastics? Because - money in politics.
Here’s an example of how it works. Massachusetts has been trying for years to pass a state ban on plastic bags, and has so far consistently failed, because the plastic industry lobbied the shit out of the Massachusetts Government.
Their front group - the American Progressive Plastic Bag Alliance - just throws money into ads and petitions and campaigns. I love that they ‘just pop the word ‘Progressive in there, as if we’ll be fooled. What the American Progressive Bag Alliance “actually” are is a group of plastic bag manufacturers who lobby against anything that would hurt the sale of plastic bags.
Now, these Plastic Industry lobbyists don’t f*ck around. In Florida and Arizona they’re so hooked into the Government that they were able to get a laws “banning bans” on plastic bags, to stop local counties from restricting the supply of plastic bags.
So in Florida it is illegal for a county to restrict my access to free plastic bags, but somehow perfectly legal to restrict my access to family planning. Yeah, that makes sense.
Even in California, the ban on plastics didn’t go down easily. California Campaign Finance records show that plastic bag makers spent more than 6 million dollars on fighting the plastic bag ban.
America. I know that plastic is often made from petroleum, and I know that you love oil. But I also know you also like oceanfront views and seafood and shit . But if a flat ban on plastic bags seems impossible - why not play to your strengths America - introduce capital based incentives and just make people pay for bags instead of giving them away for free.
In Ireland, when a 15 cent plastic bag fee was introduced, their use of plastic bags dropped 96 per cent; from 328 bags per person, to 14 bags per person. And not surprisingly - their plastic litter pollution also went down.
So America - if you’re into capitalism and/or living on planet earth - A levy on single use plastics makes long term sense. If more than 60 other countries can do it - so can you!
But what do you guys think - should the US start charging for single use plastic bags? Or shall we have all the free plastic bags are hearts desire?
I’d love your thoughts in the comments below.
SOURCES
www.theguardian.com/business/...
mashable.com/2018/08/09/new-z...
priceonomics.com/where-are-pl...
Presenter: Jayde Lovell | Editor: Brandon Palmieri | Production assistant: Frankie Cuadrado
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There is a fee for single use plastic bags in Chicago. I use reusable bags for my groceries, and I’m willing to pay for the few that I need to dispose of soiled cat litter. However, I work in the suburbs, so I get all the plastic bags I need out there. The fee system has made me reduce my usage, but the fee would have to be state or nationwide to have the greatest effect.
Paying for plastic bags has a reverse effect on me, I used to be environmentally conscientious but now I just throw everything away, plastic bottles, cups, bags and other recyclables. I feel since I'm paying for them I can do whatever to them.
What do you guys think? Should the US start charging for single use plastic bags? Or shall we have all the free plastic bags are hearts desire? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!
Tax businesses that use them. They'll disappear.
I only use plastic bags to dispose of cat litter. What do Australian cat owners use?
Charge for them. Bring America into the 21st century with the rest of civilisation.
+Derrick Thompson - Use paper bags. Keep fast food bags and use them for rubbish. You can also get paper bags from the supermarket to hold your shopping. These double very well for your larger rubbish bins eg in the kitchen
AussieGirl makes perfect sense
Why is it that a company can charge 5 cents a bag to help reduce the use ....all I see is companys making a profit off of this ....if they care. That much don't sell bags
I'd support a ban or fee on plastic. At the store that I work at, customers triple bag their items and double bag when there are like 3 things in the first bag. I've gotten fussed at (and threatened actually) on multiple occasions because something with few items in it was not double bagged. Plastic bags run out quite quickly because of this, but even when the supply of bags are so low, and its very obvious, customers still insist on wasting more, throwing them on the floor, or just ripping off a stack of them because they can. The amount of plastic that I see being consumed is quite destructive. But I can imagine the response of a ban or fee on plastic bags. People will be very pissed, their brains may implode, but it would be for the good of the fucking planet we live on...and funny.
Plastic bags aren’t banned in California... when I went there I went to a target and bought something and there were plastic bags they just had an extra tax on it of like 10 or 15 cents.
When money and convenience is more important then the future of our planet...
Sing along to the Bob the Builder tune... Can we ban it; Like fuck we can
I'd be fine with a ban, or make it easier to recycle them. We have single stream recycling here in Philly but we can't put plastic bags in the recycling because it messes up the machines or something. *shrugs*
Just a note of hopefully constructive criticism, you should write the script without the curse if you're going to beep them anyway. The effect is lost after the first beep. Or if you making the video for multiple services and wish to leave the curses in for some of those, try silencing them instead of beeping. It's much less abrasive to the ears.
I have reusable bags that I bring with me, no matter where I go. I almost always turn down a plastic bag. I also carry would a coffee cup whenever I g to Starbucks or something. I'm currently trying to find a solution for on-the-go cutlery and straws.
I use those bags for my garbage ....so now I have to go and buy single use garbage bags ...
So why were u thrown in the slammer?...ughh for using plastic bags.
Idk. Sounds crazy!
I'm loving the new edginess. Definitely keep it going. Been missing you guys.
They are rarely single use and the water pollution that creates the big problems won't be affected by USA etc banning plastic bags. It all comes from 3-4 rivers, that are in 3rd world countries which use the waterways as a dump. Everything they use ends up in the sea.
I don't see how this addresses the problem. Now we go from thin bags to thick ones and we still use them the same way. They are all eventually thrown away and the replacement ones last longer and are a bigger nuisance.
I keep all my plastic bags and reuse them. So does / did everyone else.
Research tells a different story.
Here's an idea - use plastic bags, and through them in the GARBAGE when done. then, collect the garbage to dumps in closed trucks, cover with some soil, and voila! no bags in the ocean! only in garbage dumps under soil where they can become a park later on! they make a tiny percent of garbage mass, the problem is that people through them away and not to the dumpster. So how about that?
Yeah! Everyone wants plastic bags that will last 1000 years in landfill just a few feet under their feet! That'll never cause issues!
Charles Figueroa, Jr. What issues? Are there turtles in landfills?
There are many, many, many things that can go wrong with former landfills. It's not hard to find examples. Taking a trash heap and planting grass on it doesn't make it any less of a trash heap.
Charles Figueroa, Jr. There are landfills, no way around that. Plastic bags are a tiny fraction and not poisonous. Better put the energy on making sure all of them get to the landfill where they do no harm.
I dunno? Maybe Jayde is the only one who is conscious in this world? And in alternative universes, in which everyone is conscious, people have gotten their act together - and everyone has great sex (like f*cking amazing).
This is fascinating. Plastic bags should def be banned.
I live in Austin, TX where single use bags are banned (except in fast food/food delivery). They have “reusable” plastic bags for sale. I appreciate this when I get a text asking me to pickup a few things unexpectedly. But now that I get my groceries delivered, they deliver in those reusable bags that I now have dozeeeens of. I’ve given away so many. I’ve emailed corporate about it but just got a polite response back.
On the flip slide, I’m eating at home more now that I don’t have to battle royal at the supermarket (and no longer avoid the task altogether) Saves money and these less waste there too.
I guess my point is it doesn’t feel like there a bag ban in Austin. They’ve just swapped cheap, thin plastic with thicker plastic.
Sorry, Antonea. The Texas Supreme Court banned the banning of bags. So Austin doesn't have a bag ban anymore.
www.kut.org/post/austin-says-it-will-no-longer-enforce-plastic-bag-ban-after-texas-supreme-court-ruling
dont the homeless need them in california. for something.
Not gonna lie, I kind of rely on (literally) whatever the store has. Paper or plastic. Frankly I wish they would just switch to paper bags. I tend to shop and store them for putting recycled cans and such in. No guilt when I throw out the recycling stuff. But too many people use plastic bags in my apt complex.
I think using a material like paper that degrades very quickly and doesn't really hurt nothing is way better than using disposable plastic that's gonna mess things up for thousands of years and get more microplastics in our food.
Lately a HUGE concern to me is plastic wrap. Not from kitchens, but warehouses. I've worked at a few, and it's essential to large freight deliveries. Imagine huge pallets wrapped in plastic (about the size of two basketballs), and most places stick it straight in the trash, unfortunately, like our warehouse.
I really don't think this is sustainable. I'm not a tree hugger but it just seems like it's gonna fuck stuff up down the line in 5000 years.
That's a creepy thumbnail pic
I was hoping to find something scientific and intellectual
Banning the bans of plastic bags?! Lmao. And then crying my ass off.
What a poor video. The issue is important, and a scientific analysis on the potential impact of banning plastic bags would be interesting, but this video is just 5 minutes of time-wasting censored insults.
Yes, and why did they go onto the attack for living in a nice house by the beach?
... also yeah, a real analysis would be good. We already know 99% of the pollution comes 3-4 rivers and none of them are in modern countries who never use the waterways as a dump. We also know single-use is a missnomer. They get reused many tims and end up as a bagfull of garbge... and tim will show us that the newer bags will create a bigger environmental problem.
Ban bans
Plancha de PIEDRA amen
ban plastic production everywhere around the world, outright. force manufacturers to come up with an environmentally friendly alternative. harsh i know, it may be costly, but i don't care. the environment comes before profit. always.
less opinion, more information:
/watch?v=RS7IzU2VJIQ
It was never a total ban. You are falling for Republican lies.
You're right, but your tone is insulting and condescending. You'll catch more bees with honey.
People should stop using plastic bags, but its not the government's job to regulate plastic.
Kyle Miller
It's the governments job to set and enforce laws civic, militarily, and financially. It's kind of their job to govern over everything; even if that means creating a specific institution to oversee one specific issue.
@@dannybenitez8540 please show me where in the constitution this is written.
@@LuchadorMasque
It's kind of the whole thing. The constitution is pretty much a rulebook on how the government works. But if I had to pick a specific section it would be "To make all Laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into Execution the foregoing Powers, and all other Powers vested by this Constitution in the Government of the United States, or in any Department or Officer thereof."
Kyle Miller god you are a idiot