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It might be true that paper bags are more recyclable than plastic, but that does not necessarily make them greener. One example: Studies have shown that paper bags require as much as 40 times more energy to make and transport than plastic bags.
JACQUELYN MARTIN/ASSOCIATED PRESS
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Hear the whole truth about plastic bags
Date published: 5/4/2008
WASHINGTON-- As of Earth Day 2008, the supermarket Whole Foods no longer offers plastic bags. Ostensibly, the move will help "save the environment," but the alleged benefits of alternative paper bags over plastic are not clear. Plastic has many overlooked benefits--many of them environmental.
For Whole Foods, the switch to paper supposedly meets their customer demands for greener businesses. But why does Whole Foods need to remove the products entirely rather than continue to give consumers a choice at the checkout? Given the option, some of Whole Foods' loyal customers might still choose plastic, and for good reasons.
Plastics are lightweight, durable, reusable, and easier to carry. For those "environmentally" conscious consumers who walk to the grocery, durable plastic makes even more sense as plastics don't fall apart easily--not even in the rain!
Plastic is also much less likely to carry cockroaches into your home, which can be a problem with paper bags. Common to supermarkets, cockroaches feed on the glue in paper bags and easily can hide in the crevices of paper bags.
Then there is the issue of energy. Believe it or not, plastic bags are incredibly energy efficient. This very green attribute is probably the main reason they were winning in the marketplace to begin with--because lower energy costs mean lower costs for supermarkets and everyone else. Studies have shown that paper bags require as much as 40 times more energy to make and transport, which is reflected in their price.
It might be true that paper bags are more recyclable. However, that does not necessarily make them greener. For one thing, recycling doesn't always save resources, because it is easy to use more energy and water and produce more pollutants recycling a product than you save recycling. In any case, "recyclable" is not the same thing as "recycled." Many paper bags still end up in the landfill.
In any case, worrying about landfill space isn't worth your time, either. Landfill space is plentiful despite claims that have been made to the contrary. In the 1990s, the "greens" said we would run out of landfill space in five years. Prof. Clark Wiseman of Gonzaga University in Spokane, Wash., pointed out that, given projected waste increases, we would still be able to fit the next 1,000 years of trash in a single landfill 120 feet deep, with 44-mile sides.
Date published: 5/4/2008
Most recent reader comments:
Make them TAKE them back
(posted by
Chris_Wilson
, May 27, 2008 2:03 pm)
I’m not passing the buck here but we surely must all agree; that too much plastic packaging exists at POS (Point of Sale) and is discarded as waste soon after purchase. Better to make it law for the suppliers and manufactures to accept back our packaging (including plastic bags), and force them to be accountable or invent their own solution for disposal?
Only then will we see any significant reduction in our landfill.
This is what plastic does to our oceans...
(posted by
freedomfirst
, May 5, 2008 8:32 am)
It began with a line of plastic bags ghosting the surface, followed by an ugly tangle of junk: nets and ropes and bottles, motor-oil jugs and cracked bath toys, a mangled tarp. Tires. A traffic cone. Moore could not believe his eyes. Out here in this desolate place in the Pacific Ocean, the water was a stew of plastic crap. It was as though someone had taken the pristine seascape of his youth and swapped it for a landfill.
Another good alternative is to purchase
(posted by
pinkphantom
, May 5, 2008 7:24 am)
cloth bags you can re-use every time you shop. Such bags are available in stores like Ukrops. I've seen them for sale in catalogs and on-line as well. I have some of these bags myself. The hold a lot of stuff and are a lot more durable than paper or plastic bags.
less cost effective for stores than paper. Plastic is a petroleum
based product.
Animals
(posted by
GaryShorts
, May 4, 2008 8:52 pm)
And lots of birds and fish end up eating the plastic bags eventually causing death. Paper is more editable. But I agree, a reusable bag (cloth or mesh tote) is less likely to be thrown away and is the better solution.
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