Weekend edition—Plastic vs. cotton, 737 Max training, kid question

Plastic-bag bans are proliferating across the globe, raising debates at offices, kitchen tables, and store check-out lines. What should we replace them with? [Quartz Daily Brief: America]( Good morning, Quartz readers! Plastic-bag bans are proliferating across the globe, raising debates at offices, kitchen tables, and store check-out lines. What should we replace them with? Let’s rip this band-aid off right away: There’s no easy answer, but at the very least, it’s clear we need to end the phenomenon of corporate cotton-tote giveaways. Most life-cycle assessments of different types of bags have come to the same conclusion: When it comes to climate change and other environmental problems like air pollution and water depletion, plastic is actually “greener” than cotton totes or paper bags, which cost a lot more in terms of resources and pollution to produce. But when it comes to the problem of swirling gyres of forever-materials slowly filling our oceans, plastic is worse. It seems we can’t have it both ways. A cotton bag [must be reused 7,000 times]( for its environmental performance to equal that of a plastic bag that is used only once, according to a 2018 assessment by Denmark’s government. More bad news: [Organic cotton is actually far worse than conventional cotton]( when it comes to overall environmental impact—requiring 20,000 reuses to match a plastic bag. That’s based on the assumption that organic cotton has a 30% lower yield rate on average than conventional cotton, and therefore uses 30% more resources (like water) to grow the same amount. Even adjusting for less fertilizer use for organic cotton (and therefore less [eutrophication]( caused by growing it), conventional cotton came out on top. At the end of the day, you’re not going to solve climate change with your grocery bag, whatever it’s made of. But taken together, how markets as a whole choose to consume and use their bags may have a big impact. The simplest advice to an individual person seems to be this: Whatever you have in your house now—be it a pile of cotton totes, or a jumble of plastic bags—don’t throw them out. Use them until they fall apart, then again as garbage bags once you can’t use them for other purposes anymore. And whatever you do, try not to buy new ones. —Zoë Schlanger Six things on Quartz we especially liked One pilot’s experience of trying to get more 737 Max training. The two crashes of Boeing’s newest 737 model have put a spotlight on the plane’s design, and how pilots were prepared ahead of its induction into fleets. One 737 pilot for a US airline wasn’t comfortable with the iPad video training he received. But when he asked for more training, it was unexpectedly difficult to get, and even resulted in a form of reprimand, [he told Tripti Lahiri]( who broke the story. Women speak up at Microsoft. Executives at Microsoft are now investigating incidents of sexual harassment and discrimination, after women in the company started sharing their experiences in a far-reaching email chain. In a Quartz scoop, [Dave Gershgorn reviewed]( more than 90 pages of emails, which alleged harassment occurring even in front of company HR personnel without action being taken. The complete guide to the battery revolution. Batteries have transformed modern life, from smartphones to Bluetooth earphones. But there are even bigger industries—cars, buses, trucks, ships, and even planes—that batteries can disrupt. How that might happen is explained in this week’s field guide for Quartz members, [written by Akshat Rathi](. Plus, he provides an inside look at the world’s largest electric-vehicle battery company—one you’ve probably never heard of until now. What to do with the reminders of a painful past? South Africa is currently debating whether its apartheid-era flag should be declared hate speech after white supremacist groups started waving it. The debate pits freedom of speech against racial injustice. In a [Quartz News video]( Lynsey Chutel looks at other monuments to apartheid and asks whether statues should be torn down, or whether we could learn to live with them. The difference between risk and uncertainty. A decisive Gulf War battle holds clues to how to handle surprises in economics and in life, [explains Allison Schrager]( in an article adapted from her new book, An Economist Walks Into a Brothel. There’s a fine line between preparation and rigidity, she argues, and negotiating that tension sometimes calls for going rogue. Don’t ask kids what they want to be when they grow up. This go-to question teaches children to conflate profession with identity, and sets them up for disappointment if they’re unable to find—or fulfill—one true calling. Instead, [Sarah Todd writes]( ask them this: “What problems do you want to solve?” That gets kids to reflect on their values and the myriad ways they can effect change in the world, whether through working, volunteering, making art, and beyond. Five things elsewhere that made us smarter The most important stuff on the Moon. The Apollo 11 Moon landing left an indelible mark on history. It also left behind some things on the lunar surface, including bags of astronaut shit. Nearly 50 years later, scientists are eager to revisit the human waste—undisturbed by the Moon’s non-existent winds—left behind by manned missions to Earth’s satellite. As [Brian Resnick writes for Vox]( the answer to whether microbes in that poop survived could shed light on the ability of life as we know it to withstand extreme conditions. A gusty tale of two German towns. The windswept municipalities of Reussenköge and Waabs in northern Germany are separated by just 85 km (53 miles), but they are worlds apart when it comes to wind power. Reussenköge has a well-received 86-turbine wind power park in which nearly every resident is a shareholder. Waabs has just six turbines, all of them loathed—and privately owned. For Hakai magazine, [Paul Hockenos considers]( what the towns can teach us about transitioning to renewable energy. The downside of rolling back regulations. Donald Trump relishes cutting regulations and has placed like-minded officials in key government roles. In the case of the Consumer Product Safety Commission, his appointees gave the agency a Republican majority for the first time in over a decade. As Todd C. Frankel [writes for the Washington Post]( (paywall), that figured largely in a manufacturer’s successful refusal to recall nearly 500,000 jogging strollers that have injured dozens of parents and children because of a wheel falling off. A tour of British towns still eager for Brexit. In light of the large anti-Brexit protest last month in London, it’s easy to forget about the many UK citizens who are still eager for their nation to exit the European Union. For Reuters, Clodagh Kilcoyne and Sara Ledwith [tour coastal communities]( (where dislike of the EU prevails) that are battling decline and see Brexit as a means to economic revival. The YouTube subculture linked by an ineffable sensation. Every day, hundreds of new YouTube videos are created–mostly by women–for fans of A.S.M.R., or Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response. Involving anything from brushing hair to turning pages to chewing gum, the segments are more brain massage than entertainment, and many people use them to fall asleep or study. For the New York Times Magazine, Jamie Lauren Keiles [gets a feel for A.S.M.R.]( (paywall) and tries to decide whether it’s creepy. Our best wishes for a relaxing but thought-filled weekend. Please send any news, comments, space diapers, and sturdy strollers to hi@qz.com. Join the next chapter of Quartz by[downloading our app]( and[becoming a member](. Today’s Weekend Brief was edited by Steve Mollman and Holly Ojalvo. Enjoying the Daily Brief? Forward it to a friend! They can [click here to sign up.]( If you click a link to an e-commerce site and make a purchase, we may receive a small cut of the revenue, which helps support our ambitious journalism. See [here]( for more information. To unsubscribe from the Quartz Daily Brief, [click here](.