We've been taught in recent years that reusable shopping bags are a good thing for the environment, while single-use plastic bags are the opposite.

Many cities have begun to restrict the use of plastic bags, and many businesses have stopped providing plastic bags, or put a price on plastic bags.

Some countries are starting to promote reusable shopping bags – or if you prefer to call them “eco bags”. But in fact, so-called eco-bags may be more harmful to the environment than plastic bags.

In 2008, the UK Environment Agency (UKEA) released a study: Paper bags, plastic bags, canvas bags, and recycled polypropylene (non-woven) tote bags, which material is the least environmentally friendly? The results are surprising.

The way to minimize pollution and carbon emissions in everyday life is to use plastic bags and reuse them at least once, such as garbage bags or other secondary uses. On a single-use basis, traditional plastic bags made of high-density polyethene (HDPE, the material used in grocery stores) have the least environmental impact.

Cotton shopping bags have the greatest impact on the environment, as the material requires more resources to manufacture and transport. Findings like this run counter to our intuition.

HDPE plastic bags have a foreign body and artificial feel. They hang from treetops, get stuck in animals' esophagus, rot in landfills, pile up in the corners of cities, and degrade into tiny particles that float in oceanic circulation—until hundreds of years into the future.

Although HDPE plastic bags are not easily biodegradable, very few resources are required to manufacture and ship them. Plastic bags have lower carbon emissions, waste generation, and by-products than cotton or paper bags.

Plastic bags are not only recyclable but also cheap, maybe that's why plastic bags are ubiquitous in our lives.

The Environment Agency study calculated the carbon footprint of each HDPE plastic bag is just under 2kg. To achieve the same level, a paper bag would need to be used 7 times, a recycled polypropylene tote bag 26 times, and a cotton bag 327 times.

And designer tote bags with leather and metal trim, which were not included in this study, are presumably astronomical.

When "green bags" of various materials are becoming more and more common, people no longer care whether they are environmentally friendly. Many stores offer cheap, or even free, reusable bags at the checkout with the store logo and a more stylish look.

The use of reusable bags as promotional or promotional giveaways by non-profit organizations and businesses is paradoxical: an act of kindness with an environmental will is a clear drain on resources.

These reusable bags, like plastic bags, are also flooded, and some are even discarded on the side of the road, in garbage bins, and everywhere after not being used much.

Designer Dmitri Siegel once found 23 reusable bags in his home from various organizations, stores, and brands. The ubiquity of these bags today has led consumers to consider them disposable, defeating the purpose of their designers.

The "reusable bag craze" meant to stave off looming natural disasters seems to be doing the opposite, devolving into a low-level, unfocused frenzy. The proliferation of single-use containers and utensils made of biodegradable plastics, which meet our need for disposables while being environmentally friendly, has been criticized.

We're always advocating that cars and trucks should save fuel and reduce emissions, but we don't pay attention to vehicles like tankers and container ships - which emit tens of millions of times more carbon than cars.