Is plastic or paper better for grocery bags?

Answer 1

Try a canvas tote.

Answer 2

This question has bugged me for some time. Paper consumes trees. Plastic can hurt birds and fish if not disposed of properly.
Last week I saw a TV show where they showed an old landfill. Neither the paper nor the plastic had decomposed The landfil became a burial ground for carbon. The paper and the plastic doesn't turn into CO2.
Since the trees take CO2out of the atmosphere to make cellulose and we turn it into paper and then we bury it, we are reducing the carbon footprint by using paper. Plastic bags also take carbon out of circulation, but the source is petroleum whic does not take CO2 out of the air.
Granted that this is not an efficient way of removing CO2. But every little bit helps.

Answer 3

If you would have asked this question 10 years ago i would have said paper, because the plastic grocery bags were not biodegradable.
but anymore, those plastic bags are made from biodegradable plastics, that don't take long to degrade, while the paper ones are made of recycled paper in most places.
best thing to do is look on the bags and see if they are made of biodegradable plastic, and if the paper is made from recycled paper, if you don't want to buy a bag that you can use over and over.
but yeah, a canvas bag that you can use over and over would be best.

Answer 4

Neither ...

If you want to help the environment, I would suggest a canvas tote bag is best, reused over and over again, more shops should offer these.

Whilst there are pros and cons for both paper and plastic, overall they are both more damaging than a canvas tote used repeatedly. For example, you may feel that paper is better than plastic, but paper bags transport costs are 7 times that of plastic and may come from unsustainable sources.

Or plastic is better than paper. Plastic bags require alot of raw materials and energy to be produced. Plus if landfilled will take hundreds of years to biodegrade and can emit chemicals.

http://howtosaveenergy.blogspot.com/2007/05/paper-or-plastic.html

Energy Saver
http://howtosaveenergy.blogspot.com

Answer 5

Neither is necessarily better than the other. Many grocery stores now offer to recycle your old bags. They have recycling centers in front of the stores, or just inside. Gather your old bags and take them to the store! Like some have said, you can use a canvas tote, but that gets bulky and difficult when you are buying a lot of groceries. Save-A-Lot actually gave out canvas totes one week. I keep mine in my car, with a few of Save-A-Lot's tough plastic bags rolled up in it for when I shop there, but I often shop at Wal-Mart. When I do that, I save the bags and take them to Publix and recycle them. Convoluted? Yes. But sometimes, as a treat, I buy myself some cupcakes at Publix. Unfortunately, I still haven't found a place that recycles the plastic trays the cupcakes come in!

Answer 6

there are pros and cons for sure.
plastic bag, you can definitely recycle it after grocery but if you're lazy enough to use it again, then that's when the the cons comes along. while paper on the other hand is only good for liquor items or something fragile. i personally don't know how to recycle the paper bag. but i must say, you can use it as a cover in books or as a scratch paper? variety of options are available, you just have to think it over or should i say be more creative.
but to make the long story short, i don't recommend any of it. bring a personalized bag. something that you can use over and over again.

Answer 7

Actually Canvas tote bags are the best. Some grocery stores even give credit to you if you bring your own bags. I used to use plastic and then reuse them as trash bags instead of buying trash bags. You can usually find canvas bags at yard sales or flea markets. The net bags that Fresh Market sells are great because they expand and can hold trmendous weight.

Answer 8

another vote for canvas. a backpack is ok to since it is reusable.

brown paper - particularly if it contains some post-consumer recycled paper is better than plastic because the manufacturing process consumes less energy than plastic bags and they are also easier to recycle.

you can always use paper bags for packing, mailing/shipping stuff (even wrapping presents), tearing into strips for pet bedding or even composting. i have used them for weed control in planting a garden by placing a layer and then adding soil on top for planting.

as far as the landfill route, the brown bags will decompose/degrade much faster than plastic.

Answer 9

They both hurt the enviroment in different ways (plastic - fills land fills and paper -- they had to cut down a tree) Id say plastic is better because you can use it for so many different things =) but i do agree that a canvas bag is the best!!

Answer 10

The best is if you bring your own reusable cloth bag. But between paper and plastic paper is better.

Answer 11

A canvas bag would be better. Try to posses some canvas bags and take it with you everytime you go shopping so the clerks don't have to use plastic bags. You can just put the items you purchased in your canvas bag and take it home with.