Some politicians complain that that some plastic bags become litter and say that is a reason to ban them. We have all seen plastic bags in litter. However, the issue is hugely exaggerated. At least 99.999% of plastic bags do not end up as litter.
It is easy to take photographs of plastic bags in trees or by roadsides and post them on websites. That kind of selective and photography is misleading and unfair. It's like the famous turtle picture. What about all the places where there is no plastic bag litter?
The picture below is the Los Angeles River. Anti-plastic bag activists show this photograph to justify plastic bag bans. Do you see any plastic bags in the photograph? What can you see?
The Los Angeles River. Spot the plastic bags (if any).
If we want to ban things because they may end up as litter, then the list of things to ban will be very long and will have to include:
Cigarettes (the number one source of litter), chewing gum, soda cans, beer cans, soda bottles, beer bottles, water bottles, disposable paper cups, newspapers, etc.
 Ban cigarettes?The fact is that plastic bags become litter for three primary reasons.
First, people just throw them in the street, which is fairly rare.
Second, they fly from from the back of trash trucks, which we believe is the biggest cause. Caltrans states that "a significant amount of trash ends up on highways by 'flying out' the back of pickup trucks, either from loads that aren’t tied down or from the occasional piece of trash in the truck bed that becomes airborne when the truck travels on the highway."
Third, they fly off landfills before the landfills are covered.
Municipalities, waste haulers, and landfill owners need to address these problems. They can do a much better job. Ban everything in this picture?
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