“Paper or plastic?”
Paper seems like such the obviously superior choice given that it’s easy to either reuse or recycle, but does plastic have any merit at all? My husband uses our plastic grocery bags to bring his lunch to work, and they can also be recycled in a number of places. According to Allen Hershkowitz of the NRDC, your choice of paper or plastic really should come down to where you live. If you live along the coast where plastic bags are finding their way into our oceans, then choose paper. If you live in the heartland, choose plastic because of the enormous amount of energy that goes into both manufacturing and recycling paper bags. What constitutes “coastal living?” Do I need to be able to see the ocean from my house? My town?
Additionally, consider this:
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It takes 91% less energy to recycle a pound of plastic than it takes to recycle a pound of paper.
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Plastic bags are not biodegradable, but paper bags generate 70% more air pollutants than plastic and 50 times more water pollutants.
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It can take 1000 years for a plastic bag to completely break down in the environment, but paper bags take up a lot more landfill space in the short-term.
Ok, obviously, neither choice is better than bringing your own bag, which I do whenever I remember. I have four cloth bags that I like to use for grocery shopping, but at Target last week, it occurred to me that I should probably carry them everywhere; not just the grocery store.
In fact, while I’m on this subject, I think it should become a global initiative to do away with the paper or plastic conundrum completely. If disposable bags, whether they’re paper or plastic, are so obviously bad for the planet, why are they still available everywhere? Why not just eliminate them altogether and force consumers to bring their own bags? Or, given that people will often forget to carry their bag, why not charge for use of paper or plastic bags? Five dollars on top of a grocery bill would definitely be a nuisance. Or better yet – make it $50. I would opt to not buy the bag at all and I would load my groceries into my car directly from the shopping cart I used in the store. Yes, it would be a HUGE pain in the ass, but I dare say it would go a long way in helping me to remember my bag the next time I shopped!!
