Completely eliminating the U.S. contribution to plastic of all kinds, not just plastic bags, would reduce the amount of ocean plastic pollution by less than 1%.

Plastic bags littering the shoreline is a common sight on beaches around the world. The researchers combined information on hundreds of policies instituted across the U.S. between 2017 and 2023 ...

We don’t want plastic in the ocean. Most plastic degrades slowly and we have all seen pictures and videos of marine life being harmed by plastic. While many environmental issues ...

Plastic bag policies led to a 25% to 47% reduction in the amount of disposable, thin plastic bag litter on America's shorelines, the study found.

The study adds weight to less formal analyses of plastic bag bans conducted by advocacy organizations and could inform negotiations later this summer over the United Nations’ global plastics ...

Plastic shopping bags, which have low recycling rates and often become litter when they blow away in the wind, are among the biggest culprits of plastic pollution in the ocean and along shorelines.

More than 600 bag policies, along with records from more than 45,000 shoreline cleanups between 2017 and 2023, were reviewed by researchers to see whether implementing bans or fees on plastic bags ...

Using crowdsourced data from shore cleanups, researchers found that areas that enacted plastic bag bans or fees had fewer bags littering their lakes, rivers and beaches than those without them.

Plastic bags littering the shoreline is a common sight on beaches around the world. CREDIT: Prasit Photo via Getty Images. Get the Popular Science daily newsletter💡 Breakthroughs, discoveries ...

GUEST VIEW Plastic bag bans don’t help the ocean - there are better solutions | Todd Myers TODD MYERS Mar 20, 2025 0 ...

Plastic bag bans may not be the best way to keep plastics out of the ocean, argues Todd Myers. We don’t want plastic in the ocean. Most plastic degrades slowly, and we have all seen pictures and ...