I use them for my trash bins so I don't have to buy plastic bags.
Plastic bags, unlike paper bags, are non-biodegradable. This means that after you've thrown out your plastic bags full of trash, they never die! They have a lifespan of pretty much forever. They also are very absorbent, so they suck in toxins and hang on to them until people throw them into the streets and oceans for animals to eat. When animals eats plastic of any kind (which happens far more often than we'd all like to think) the animal then absorbs the toxins in the plastic, which is then later absorbed by us when/if we eat them. Right now in India the streets are practically paved with plastic bags that will never go away, and are being consumed by the animals that are then being consumed by the people. If you'd like to do a fun experiment to see just why paper is better than plastic, place a plastic grocery bag on your lawn next to a paper bag and water them for a couple days. The plastic bag probably won't change much, but the paper bag will start to decompose.
I'm betting you don't reuse ALL of them for trash bags, I'm betting most of them end up AS trash, not containing it. The reality is that plastic doesn't biodegrade, ends up killing wildlife.... websearch for plastic bags wildlife and you'll likely get a lot of VERY graphic examples. And Haans..... I don't know of anyplace that is trying to get people to take paper bags -- every program I've seen is trying to get people to bring the reusable bags to the store with them and not take any bags from the store. I take bags to the store with me, but when I need trash can liners, I'll have some of my purchases put in store bags. I also use paper bags for recycling paper, and being able to dump the content of my shredder into a paper bag and put that in the paper recycling tub is very helpful... so I occasionally have a store bag my purchases in paper so that I can reuse them. Sadly, most people just throw the bags in the garbage after unpacking their purchases, and theres' serious impact from that. Most don't even cut the handles so that they don't end up strangling some animal.
Do you really need Plastic Bags? Were you aware there are alternatives to Plastic? There are Biodegradable Trash Bags out there these days. Also, I hope you know that most food is compostable. Even Meat can be composted if you have a hot enough bin for it. However if not, just bury the wasted meat. Other items, should be recycled if at all possible.
Then buy plastic bags! The main problem is that most plastic bags are given out freely with groceries, shopping, etc and then thrown into the trash. Cities are trying to do the right thing by the environment and reduce the amount of plastic bags that end up in land fill. I use plastic bags as bin liners too and happily pay for them, but I use far fewer bags as bin liners than I would get from the store (if I didn't use green bags for my shopping). By having to pay for bags, people will use them more efficiently and fewer will end up poisoning our environment. It's only fair that we do our bit and fork out 12c a bag for bin liners so our environment doesn't suffer any more than it already has.
These bans are largely based upon the mistaken perception plastic bags are less environmentally friendly. Some quick points: The kraft paper process used to make the paper uses 4 times the energy to produce a ton of paper as is required to produce a ton of plastic film, plus it creates much more pollution. Plastic bags are about 1/20 the weight of paper bags, so you get 20 times more per ton of material. This means that each paper bag requires 80 times the energy to produce versus a plastic bag. Even recycled paper requires 25% more energy than plastic to produce. Recycling plastic requires 10% of the energy to produce new plastic. Most paper bags are not reused. They end up in landfills just like the plastic. In a landfill the paper does not biodegrade and lasts forever just like the plastic and it takes up more space. Left in the open environment a paper bag will degrade if exposed to water. If it is in a dry area it will take years to decompose. A plastic bag left in the open will be decomposed by UV light in about 2 to 3 years. All the plastic consumed in the U.S. in one year is made with the amount of oil and natural gas, used in 1 day to fuel our cars. Plus plastics sequester carbon. You should go to your city with these facts. However people do not want to believe plastic is more environmentally friendly because of extensive PR by the paper industry. It will be a tough sell
