Paper Bags or Plastic Bags?

[adam]

It's easy to think of plastic as the villain. After all, there's a growing number of cities and countries around the globe either banning them outright or proposing taxes and fees to discourage their use. Here's a partial list: San Francisco, Los Angeles, Westport (Connecticut), Seattle, Portland, China, Ireland, Australia, and Italy.

And yet, the answer to that age-old question is not nearly as clear-cut as it may seem. Did you know, for example, that more energy is used to produce paper bags than their plastic counterparts? Making paper bags also requires a lot of water (not to mention trees).

The production of plastic bags is equally problematic. They're made from oil (an estimated 12 million barrels a year just to produce those used in the U.S.). Another huge downside is that they can make their way into large bodies of water and harm marine life.

The best option, of course, is quite familiar by now. Forgo single use bags and carry your own reusable bags. Choose the best-quality bags you can afford so that they last a long time. Remember, though, that simply buying them doesn't do anything for the planet. We need to use them in place of throwaway bags.

[brilliant1988]

I have one question in mind. Do countries who banned the plastic bags ever think about the plastic containers of different soda and solvents that are used by large companies? They are still plastic. No matter what they are still in the category of NON BIODEGRADABLE. Therefore, plastic isn't banned that much.

[go.green887]

[url=http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/21/us/21sfplastic.html]Paper Bags or Plastic Bags? New Proposals Like Neither - NYTimes.com[/url]

That article directly addressed this problem. Reusable is definitely the way to go.

[bobobert88]

When my mother and I go to the supermarket, she brings the re-usable bags, because they are sturdier, and its easier in my opinion. We also like to add all the excess scraps to the compost pile we have in the backyard!

[green algae]

Adam is very right. Using sturdy bags is the way to go, just like our forefathers did a long time ago. Plastic containers for industrial products should be re-used too. The manufacturers should buy them back once they are emptied.

[Josh44]

I think, when it comes to shopping, everyone should be required to bring reusable shopping bags. We'll never completely get rid of plastic (it's used to make millions of things), but bringing your own bags would help tremendously.

[Saffron]

Where we are, we have many stores that charge for plastic carrier bags. They want to encourage their customers to bring their own. It does seem to be working.

[solarpowered]

You also need to take into account that paper bags tend to wear out much more faster than plastic. I almost always use my own plastic bags since they don't package groceries at the supermarket I shop.

[MsImpact]

When I was very little, I remember my mother used to always take a rattan basket when going shopping (in the market). But of course you won't use them when you go shopping in the malls. But I suppose we can use woven bags instead. They use raw materials so there is no processing required, only weaving skills.

[Bobsthelast]

I reuse plastic single use bags for so much around the house. We use them for trash can liners, for scooping cat litter, for covering things outside I want to keep dry and a few other things too. The rest that I don't use, I take back to the store and they send them for recycling.