Disposable vs reusable

File:Disposable vs reusable bags, containers, cutlery, straws.jpg

File:Brand new plastic bags thrown away.png

The whole point of banning plastic bags is to reduce waste. But in this particular case, it did the opposite. The store discarded its whole stock of plastic bags because they weren't allowed to hand them out anymore. This could have been prevented if policy makers had put more thought into their policies.

It's better for the environment to re-use something instead of wasting it.
However,

It takes far more resources to make 1 metal spoon than 1 plastic spoon.
It takes far more resources to make 1 metal straw than 1 plastic straw.
It takes somewhat more resources to make 1 reusable bag than 1 disposable bag.

So if people buy reusable things all the time but don't actually reuse them, it's actually worse for the environment than everyone buying disposable things.

We should keep this in mind when designing policies that "ban" disposable things. We have to encourage each other to actually re-use things - and in fact, even "disposable" bags or spoons could be used a lot more than once, if people put their minds to it. Should we also talk about cultural norms? Carrying around empty containers/bags/spoons can be seen as "weird" or "awkward" in a lot of cases. Any ideas how to make that easier?

discussion

Popular Google search suggestions for "disposable vs reusable..." include:

...vapes
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So maybe we should talk about these things as well here, on this page? idk

See also