# Why do states with plastic bag bans also ban paper bags?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-states-with-plastic-bag-bans-also-ban-paper-bags/963950>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [May 4, 2022, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-states-with-plastic-bag-bans-also-ban-paper-bags/963950 "2022-05-04T17:10:43Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Page:** 4

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\
**Post date:** [May 6, 2022, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-states-with-plastic-bag-bans-also-ban-paper-bags/963950/61 "2022-05-06T21:11:28Z")

</div>

> [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](#):
>
> That just isn’t true. Trees—even mature trees—are constantly growing, both in their canopies and outward from the trunk as well as their root systems, and they support a diverse ecosystem below the canopy layer that also utilizes carbon as well as maintaining the health of the soil layers and fungal mats.

Not constantly; only until they die. Which they all do, eventually. In a mature forest, there are the same number of old trees dying and new trees growing. It’s already expanded to its equilibrium amount of biomass. Where do you think all of that carbon is going?

[Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-states-with-plastic-bag-bans-also-ban-paper-bags/963950.md?page=3)