Santa Fe County to pursue discredited plastic bag ban

Apparently members of Santa Fe County Commission want people in the county to use more plastic. At least that’s how we’d have to interpret their plan to consider banning plastic bags in the unincorporated areas of the County.

While these bans have always been known to have a dubious environmental impact, the best known study of the environmental impact of plastic bag bans was recently done in New Jersey (a state with such a ban on the books). According to the study of the ban which was adopted in 2022, “Plastic consumption in New Jersey spiked by nearly three times from the use of heavier, reusable bags, increasing greenhouse gas emissions from the use of bags by 500 percent.”

Furthermore, “The reusable bags were used only 2 or 3 times before being misplaced or disposed of—not the 16 times needed to positively impact the environment.”

Government policies always have their unintended consequences. Plastic bag bans are no different. Not only should Santa Fe’s County Commission reject such a ban, but if they care about the environment, the City of Santa Fe, Los Alamos, Silver City, and Las Cruces city governments should end their bans.