Quiz Week: Which is Greener?

Which is greener?  Paper or Plastic Bags?

A:     Paper: Because trees are a renewable resource.

B:     Plastic:  Because trees are not cut down to make them.

ANSWER:    Surprisingly, plastic is the greener choice, but by a very slim margin.  It takes less energy to produce plastic bags and they are technically recyclable.  Unfortunately, the recycling rate for plastic bags is very low and they are responsible for a myriad of environmental problems around the world.

More than 14 million trees per year are approximately cut down to make paper bags, but they are easily recyclable in most curbside recycling programs.    And they are not a petroleum based source, which gives them some bonus green points.

The real winner here is a reusable bag.   If you use a reusable bag just 11 times, it will already begin to have a lower environmental impact.  The more you use that reusable bag, the more you are saving.

Comments

[blackbird]

I just thrilled that I'm remembering to take them out of the CAR and into the store!

[Lora]

I love love love my reusable shopping bags. Not only are they good for the environment, but they hold significantly more than those plastic bags and cut down on trips from my car to the kitchen. They are super strong too. I gave out similar ones as teacher gifts this Christmas to rave reviews. Love the Reusablebags.com slogan "platic bags blow."

[Grace]

In 1985 I saw a set of canvas grocery bags in a catalogue. How novel! It made perfect sense to me, I ordered them and have been using them ever since. I was a lone bag-bringer for a long time. It elicited quizzical looks, questions and it confused the check-out people. It's wonderful that this is now becoming the norm. Only 11 uses to have environmental impact? Wow!... I'm thrilled to imagine the impact 23 years might have had. Multiply that by the majority of people incorporating this easy habit. Individuals can make a difference.

[Beth]

While I use reuseable shopping bags when I remember to take them to the store, I would have to say that I am not entirely sure it's as clear-cut as you say. I reuse all of the bags I bring home from the grocery store. That being said, fabric bags are the easiest to carry home and it has certainly reduced the clutter of too many bags floating about my home. I just don't feel too bad when I forget because I know that those little bags will be reused and I will need bags whether I buy them or bring my groceries home in them.

[Dana Miller]

And not all reusable bags are created equal! Lots are made out petroleum-based products, are made overseas and then shipped into the US. Check out BaggyShirts! They are reusable bags made out of recycled men's shirts, made in the US, and the folks who make them work from home and are paid a decent wage. Very Cool! Very Green! www.baggy-shirts.com.

[Jamie]

Been using reusuable bags for quite awhile now. I LOVE THEM!!! Haven't taken a plastic bag in over 6 months..

[Leeann]

In my effort to go green, I've been trying to make it a habit to put my purse in my reusable bag along with my other reusable bags. This way, I have only one bag to carry with me when I go shopping and I know I won't definitely forget my purse, so I'm forced to bring my reusable bags with me. Then when it's time to check out, I take out my purse and hand over my reusable bags to the check out person. It really works! I also love to use reusable IKEA bags for everyhing. They're the best for laundry since I send mine out.

[Tori]

My dad was one of the first shoppers I remember taking his canvas grocery bags since the early 1980's! I have tried hard to continue this practice, it's my 4 year old son who reminds me to put them back in the car. My downfall is that there are so many cute designs, I'm beginning to have too many bags!

[Marie]

I have reused my brown bags from
the grocery store as holders for
my kitchen/household trash for
thirty plus years. If I don't use
these what are others using? I can't see buying plastic kitchen
bags (or liners) when I can reuse
these. I try hard not to take plastic bags and am wanting to use
a cloth reusable bag when I shop
but then what do I use for my household garbage? I recycle and
compost as much as municipal waste
and weather/season permit. One cannot just dump waste in the trash can and find it strewn out on the street after pick up either.

[Kam]

i try to use my reusable bags as often as possible. i still use plastic bags as liners for trash cans around the house. but if possible, i collect all of the trash cans inside and just dump waste into large street trash can, hence reusing my plastic bags. but yes i agree with marie, i would still go thur plastic bags for kitchen waste.

[Mike F.]

great post. this is a fine example of an everyday situation where there is a clear, easy solution that can have an important role in a much greater problem. instead of "paper or plastic?", we instead should be vigorously offered the third, reusable option.

here's a news story on the pacific trash vortices, which are composed almost exclusively of plastic refuse...one can only imagine how much of it consists of plastic grocery bags.

http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/the-worlds-rubbish-dump-a-garbage-tip-that-stretches-from-hawaii-to-japan-778016.html

[Green Eggs Matty]

Yes! This is a great issue to bring into a forum like this -- we actually sponsored a petition to try to get plastic bags eliminated from grocery stores in favor of re-usable bags. More details here on paper vs. plastic, too:
http://www.greeneggsandplanet.com/blog/issues/petition-signing-eliminate-plastic-grocery-store-bags/
Can you help us to get the challenge out there?

[Katie]

I really enjoyed this post since I've often asked myself the same question. Thanks for convicting me...I will get reusable bags tonight!

[Frank]

Does the greenness take into account you probably use more plastic bags than paper bags because...
1.) You can often fit more into a paper bag than a plastic bag (especially stuff with corners, like cereal boxes)
2.) Grocers often double-bag plastic bags even when they don't need to
?
By the way, where you you pulling these statistics from?
I definitely agree reusable bags are the most preferable. Roomy, durable, easier to carry, and relatively less waste. Niiice.

[Fredric]

There are several answers to the paper vs. plastic bag issue. I have a great appreciation of bags, and some are actually wearing-out from use. However, the problem with plastic bags is make disposable biodegradable plastic bags from alfalfa (and probably other grain stalk wastes?) Recyclable plastic bags are now being used by a major grocery chain in Colorado, but biodegradable plastic bags is probably a better idea, and creates an additional income for American farmers.

Paper bags are not bad either; however we need to overcome our hysteria about hemp. The U.S. is actually a co-signer of an international treaty on non-drug uses of hemp, but hysteria is major here at home. Canada grows hemp. Studies indicate that the entire paper supply in the U.S. could be accomplished with hemp, saving the 13 to 16 million trees that are harvested every year for paper. Hemp grows like a weed with very little stewardship needs.

With regards to the drug issue, George Washington grew hemp and experimented with it in greenhouses, which suggests he probably high, and he was one of the better presidents and rejected offers to become an emperor. We have a failed anti-drug program that is designed to fail and used for international imperialism. Al Qaeda and the Taliban would be bankrupted today if Bush Junior had not enabled opium production to resume - perhaps as a courtesying for his former business partner (Osama's brother) and to keep al Qaeda alive and healthy for his status of commander in chief of a fantasy war that he bases his imperial powers on???

A second strategy is corn stalks. Corn stalks can be used to make the finest grades of handmade paper, and could be industrially used at regional medium-scale industries to make a wide range of papers.

As we get into thinking sensible about paper, we also need to think sensibly about dyes and inks. Some newspapers now use inks made from soy. There are also many dyes, food colorings and protein dyes that are semi-durable and environmentally friendly or compatible.

We need a new economic system in America that stresses sustainability and prosperity more than corporate profiteering. Most Americans will agree that CEOs don't need multi-million dollar incomes, or a billion dollars as a going-away present when they are fired or bagged...

[SierraMoon]

it's been a few years now that you can't find any plastic bags in grocery stores/supermarkets, here in France . Everybody has to have one or several reusable bags. Which is such a good thing !
Came across this blog tonight, and enjoying my visit.

[MICHAEL J. SCHMITZ]

PLASTIC BAGS, MORE DEPENDABLE, NO COSTS AND RE-USEABLE. CLEANER NEATER AND SMARTER.