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Comment by Eurongreyjoy | Hacker News Reader

Its insane to me that back in the 80's a plastic trash "island" was discovered somewhere between the size of Texas and Russia (depending on estimate). All these years later and there has been almost nothing done to combat the problem.

California is still the only state to completely ban single use plastic bags.

Is the convenience of a super market giving you multiple plastic bags every time you enter worth the damage we are doing to the planet?

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I'm always a little annoyed by that term. Island. It makes people think there's an actual barge of plastic the size of Texas somewhere. Like something you could stand on or crash into. In reality it's an area of much higher density of plastic the size of Texas. Which is still terrible. But it's not a floating garbage barge.

The intent of the term is simply to call attention to the problem with a bit of hyperbole.

I don't think many people think you can actually stand on it.

The "scientific term" is the Great Pacific Garbage Patch.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Pacific_garbage_patch

Chicago banned single use plastic bags a few years ago. While some stores switched to paper, most just began to use thicker plastic bags and called them "reusable bags". I think the ban lasted about 18 months and when it was found that plastic bag use hadn't dropped at all, the city instituted a bag tax of $0.07 per bag used. I think that actually worked to reduce bag usage.

California has both a single-use ban and a minimum per bag charge (which isn't strictly a bag tax but should have the same direct effect on consumer behavior, even if it has a different direct effect on retailer behavior.)

Same in California. Thicker plastic bags at Vons.

Whole Foods, however, does not use them from what I've witnessed.

Coke, Pepsi and others are the producers, and they won't change unless they get hit with regulations or losses.

Boycott plastic.

It's not the plastic bags I fear. It's that nearly everything is warmed and/or bottled in plastic. You buy X. You use it to make a meal...boom into the trash. Used once and that's it. Sure, recycling helps but it still feels bad to me.

Is this really an American problem? I thought we sent all our trash to recycling or the landfill?

Do you really think 100% of the plastic we consume makes it to a recycling plant or a landfill?

No matter how efficient waste infrastructure is, the more plastic consumed, the higher chance for pollution, and the higher chance it can end up in the ocean or some other natural environment.

Ok, what percentage of plastic doesn't make it to the landfill?

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