With all of the studies showing that plastic bags wreak havoc on our ecosystems, one would think that banning the bags would do wonders for solving the issue. However, it turns out getting rid of them isn’t as effective as you’d think.

More than, according to a 2011 report from NOAA.These bags impact more than 267 species of marine wildlife by infecting them with harmful toxins, entangling them, choking them, and artificially filling their stomachs so that they cannot consume food. Plastic bags also litter neighborhoods, becoming snagged in trees and storm drains.

In an effort to reduce the use of plastic bags, .

The Massachusetts Senate has also moved to ban the bags, , or that have at least three locations within the state, according to the Boston Globe.

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While these bans and fees have led to a decrease in the number of bags being used, the question of what will replace the bags remains. While paper bags may sound like a more eco-friendly option, studies have shown they may be just as bad, if not worse.

,” University of Oregon professor of chemistry David Tyler told Grist. “Very broadly, carbon footprints are proportional to the mass of an object.”

While paper bags are easier to recycle, they have a much higher carbon footprint than plastic bags because they take more energy to make and to transport.

“Paper does have its own environmental consequences in terms of how much energy it takes to generate,” Massachusetts Sierra Club director Emily Norton told Grist. “The big difference is that paper does biodegrade eventually. Plastic is a toxin that stays in the environment, marine animals ingest it, and it enters their bodies and then ours.”

Reusable bags made popular by chains such as Costco and Whole Foods are also not as ecologically sound as we’d like to think. , according to the World Wildlife Fund. Unsustainable cotton farming has contributed to the destruction of large-scale ecosystems like the Aral Sea in central Asia.

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With the top three options of reusable bags all having major environmental impacts, it’s difficult to pinpoint what the best solution would be, especially considering the differences in the shopping and environmental habits of nations around the world.

“There’s no easy answer,” Natural Resources Defense Council New York City environment director Eric Goldstein told Grist. “There are so very many variables. This question is something like asking, ‘Would you prefer to get a parking ticket or a tax assessment?’ It depends on the specifics, but it’s better to avoid both wherever possible.”

Goldstein feels that if people consistently use reusable bags, even cotton ones, that will ultimately be better for the environment, according to Grist.

MORE ON WEATHER.COM: Hawaii Trashed by Plastic

In this May 5, 2016 image provided by the state of Hawaii, ocean debris accumulates in Kahuku, Hawaii on the North Shore of Oahu. State officials say a study of the eight main Hawaiian Islands shows that ocean debris regularly accumulates around the archipelago, and that most of it is not linked to the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami in Japan. The aerial survey shows that much of the debris that accumulates on the shores of Hawaii is plastic trash. (Hawaii Dept. of Land and Natural Resources)