I’m not clear on the Cuyahoga County’s plastic bag ban. The article says that North Olmsted opted out of the bag ban, but that’s the city were I am least likely to be offered a plastic bag. Most everywhere else uses the typical plastic bag.
As an old school environmentalist, I don’t take my direction from NPR, but try to do some research and think things through. I live in a modest house, heat mostly with wood and took my own silverware to school to use at lunch time. I’m aware of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch , but also know that ocean garbage comes from cruise ships and Asia. Americans are environmentally conscious. I live next to a major highway, and hop the fence to pick up trash about once per year. I get one garbage bag full in a third of a mile. That ain’t much.
I replaced my cloth grocery bags a few years ago. They were in good shape, but said “Finast” on the side. I decided to splurge. That is the beauty of cloth bags, they don’t split open. Plastic grocery bags aren’t really single-use. Most people keep some bags around, and pet owners need them for poop pickup. Nobody tells the pets that a plastic bag ban is passed. Pet owners start buying actual single-use bags. That isn’t helping anyone.