Plastic bag bans are spreading across the US, with over 500 municipalities adopting them, yet I still see shoppers at my local Trader Joe's grabbing the free paper bags like they're a victory. Are we actually reducing waste, or just swapping one environmental problem for another? Paper bags have their own carbon footprint and often end up in landfills anyway. I'm not convinced the bans tackle the root issue of our disposable culture—they just make us feel better while we forget our reusable totes at home for the tenth time.