Cloth bags are actually way worse for the environment than plastic ones

plastic bags
(Image credit: Fiona Goodall / Getty Images)

Plastic bags may actually have one thing going for them.

Sure, they fill landfills and accumulate into giant plastic islands in the ocean. That's why New York became the second state to ban them altogether last month. But a recent study shows that a similar ban in California actually ended up pushing plastic waste higher — and that the alternatives to plastic may not be so great either, NPR reports.

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Kathryn Krawczyk

Kathryn is a graduate of Syracuse University, with degrees in magazine journalism and information technology, along with hours to earn another degree after working at SU's independent paper The Daily Orange. She's currently recovering from a horse addiction while living in New York City, and likes to share her extremely dry sense of humor on Twitter.