In the decade following California's celebrated first-in-the-nation single-use plastic bag ban, plastic bag waste jumped by nearly 50%. What went wrong?
More than 15 years ago, state lawmakers passed legislation to further control local governments from banning single-use plastics in Florida. Now, members of the GOP-controlled Legislature and the Florida business establishment want to go further.
After a year of the statewide fee on single-use plastic bags, the Eco-Cycle recycling center estimates between 1.5 billion and 1.8 billion fewer plastic bags were used in Colorado in 2023.
Governments, organizations and businesses have set ambitious goals to combat climate change. But it is far from clear that those goals can be met without forcing people to do -- or not do -- certain things.
