Paper or Plastic?
14 01 2008A Checkout Conundrum
A friend asked me if it was better to get paper or plastic at the checkout line.
“Sure, sure,” he said. “It’s preferable to get neither, I know…but really…which is better? Paper or plastic?”
Reusable Bags, Of Course
And he’s right, it’s better to bring your own bag. No contest. But…but…what if it’s an emergency and you HAVE to get a bag? Like someone has a gun to your head and you have to chose one?
I always thought I should go with paper, but it turns out it’s still a completely destructive choice.
Paper Cuts
Little did I know there are numerous pitfalls of paper bags! EEEEEK! (cue horror movie music)
THE PITFALLS OF PAPER BAGS (from www.reusablebags.com)
a. It uses aroung 4 times as much energy to make a paper bag as it does a plastic one.
b. The creation process of paper bags creates over 50% more pollution that the creation process of plastic bags.
c. Few paper bags are ever recycled, and it still takes virgin wood to go into a partially recycled paper bag.
d. Landfills hinder the breakdown of paper products as well as plastic products.
Who knew? Now we both do. And, in case you need a refresher on plastic bags…
Those Flimsy Plastic Bags Are Basically Evil
There, I said it. I know that’s a little extreme. But I kind of believe it. Those plastic bags you get your stuff piled into at the checkout counter:
A. will never biodegrade
B. are made with such flimsy plastic that many times they cannot be reused once, and if reusable are only reusable once or twice and then will never biodegrade
C. are heartbreakingly ending up in the stomachs of sea creatures who mistake them for jellyfish (visit the No Plastic Bags Blog for terrible sea creature pictures, and then perhaps visit the No More Plastic Bags Blog for voyeuristic pictures of the other type of sea creatures — celebrities –with plastic bags)
D. they are ending up in trees everywhere. Not that this is seriously hurting trees, but it’s ugly! Aesthetics, people. Sometimes, it’s all about aesthetics.
E. they use a ton of energy to create.
F. did I mention they never biodegrade?
The plastic bags I do have, I refuse to throw out, and I will be carrying this huge mountain of plastic bags with me that my roommate and I have acquired to my grave if we don’t reuse them:
I usually use extra plastic grocery bags for my smaller trash cans. I also use them for picking up doggie poop when I walk my dog. Sometimes I’ll put one on each hand and make puppets. Unfortunately all they keep talking about is how they don’t want to eat any more dog poop. Boring! Anyway, at least they can be reused in some ways. But there should be very little excuse for not using reusable, cloth bags now that most major grocery stores and a lot of health food stores sell them for a buck or less!