Seed Magazine’s latest installment of their ‘I Can’t Believe It’s Science’ series features: IKEA starts charging for bags, the World Cup sparks a German baby boom, and video game players make better surgeons.

Good Riddance to Bag Rubbish
IKEA rewards its customers for their willingness to assemble their own furniture. But now the Swedish enterprise will punish those who choose plastic bags over reusable ones with a five cent surcharge per bag. IKEA notes that Americans throw away 100 billion bags every year, 70 million of which are supplied by their store. By charging for plastic bags and lowering the price of reusable ones from 99 cents to 59 cents, IKEA hopes to cut their plastic bag distribution by 50 percent in the first year and eliminate them entirely in the near future. Several countries have already banned plastic bags, and when Taiwan began charging for bags, it cut its use by 80 percent. When IKEA started a similar program in the UK last year, the company cut bag consumption by a whopping 95 percent. All proceeds from the program will go to the conservation group American Forests. Environmentalists note that bags harm the planet by taking up space in landfills, clogging drains, and endangering wildlife. Yes, the era of conspicuous plastic bag consumption is ending: It’s pay-bag time.