Former Washington lobbyist Stephen L. Joseph must like a good challenge because he’s certainly found one in his latest endeavor to save the plastic grocery bag. It may seem like an unlikely cause in an increasingly environmentally conscious culture, but where environmentalists see a symbol of waste and excess and the incremental destruction of nature, Joseph sees a challenge to improve the image of a throwaway product. As head of the Save the Plastic Bag campaign, Joseph is working to keep plastic bag manufacturers in business.

How can a former anti-litter activist support plastic bags? Joseph points out, and some environmentalists agree, that in many ways paper bags are just as bad for the environment as plastic ones. While paper bags decompose, they also release methane while doing so. While plastic bags are sometimes made with petrochemicals, paper bags require more energy to be made and recycled. The evidence that plastic bags kill marine life is not conclusive, and it’s generally acknowledged that the detritus from commercial fishing is much more damaging. “My research into this issue has proved to me that something funny is going on,” says Joseph. “The anti-plastic-bag campaigners are not being challenged. It’s like a court case where nobody’s representing the other side.”

I admire his tenacity, but it seems to me that plastic grocery bags are a lost cause. Nearly every grocery store I frequent now has its own version of the environmentally friendly, reusable shopping bag–and I’m seeing more and more people actually using them. Can the plastic versions really survive?