Paper or plastic?

Question

Plastic bags are made from petroleum - a nonrenewable source - and take years to degrade. Paper is made from fiber, mostly wood - a renewable resource - and are bio-degradable. Economically, using plastic increases the demand for petroleum, which increase the price of petroleum, which increase the price of gas …

Answer 1

You must consider, however, that the use of paper bags requires the use of more trees to produce them, which is why companies switched to plastic in the first place. the best bet is to recycle the plastic and paper bags (reuse the plastic, recycle the paper) to help all around.

Morg

Answer 2

I hate to answer with something other than the two choices you gave, but the best answer is neither. They both have serious environmental ramifications. The easiest and most responsible thing is to buy a few canvas tote bags and keep them in your car for when you go shopping. They are easy to wash and you always feel good when you use them.

But if you really have to choose, I would say paper is slightly better since it is degradables, trees can be regrown, and unlike plastic, they dont harm marine life or sit in a landfill for 100's of years. Ask you store to carry bags made from corn starch - those are a decent alternative to plastic or paper.

Answer 3

The best solution is to bring your own canvass tote bag. It amazes me how so many people find that to be "too much trouble", "too easy to forget", or "too inconvenient". It's as simple as remembering to grab your car keys!
If you must rely on "paper or plastic", I recommend paper because it can be recycled easier and more quickly made into renewable product. Some people say, "But paper bags sometimes rip and my groceries fall out!" Well, would you like some cheese with that whine?? Plastic bags also rip, tear, or stretch. It's a very simple matter of holding on to the bag a little more responsibly.
Plastic, of course, is the worst choice simply because it IS petroleum-based. And the more plastic bags we use, the more OIL we use. And plastic bags cannot be easily tossed into a landfill because they're not biodegradable. They will lay in a landfill for hundreds of years before they finally begin to leach and pollute our water supplies.
Anyway, REduce the materials we use all the time; then REuse those materials we can all the time; and, finally, REcycle everything including paper, plastic, cardboard, tin, aluminum, used cooking grease, asphalt, mixed paper, ink cartridges, computer parts, magazines, newsprint, old telephone books, metal, steel, glass, oil, tires, and virtually everything else that can be renewable. Thanks! -RKO- 05/27/07

Answer 4

Many people see disposable plastic packaging as waste of finite resources, but the plastic packaging industry has worked hard to get people to consider the life-span energy costs of bottles, bags, wraps and other packaging.

When the costs to produce and transport packaging are factored in, plastic is a conservation bargain compared to some if its competitors.

A truck that can deliver 2.8 million plastic grocery sacks in a single trip would have to make six trips to deliver an equal number of paper sacks.

Plastic bags require about one-third less energy to make and deliver than paper bags.

Without plastic, the volume of packaging would more than double, it's weight would increase four-fold.

Energy consumed in the production of packaging would double if plastics were eliminated and only traditional alternatives such as metal, glass and paper products were used.

Innovations have made plastic packaging more efficient. A typical polystyrene foam plate weighs 25 percent less than it did in 1974; PET bottles have been reduced in weight by the same proportion since their introduction in 1977.

The use of plastic to make body panels, fuel systems and other automotive parts has made cars lighter. This and other innovations have made greater fuel efficiency possible, though in the United States, most of that potential is used to increase the size and performance of passenger vehicles.

As with appliances, plastics used in place of metals also helps automotive parts resist corrosion and damage, keeping them on the road longer.

Paper or plastic, you say? I say plastic, please. A good choice for the future.

Answer 5

When I shop at Costco, it's a box. Paper is a better choice if you plan to let someone else recycle for you. I prefer plastic because I recycle them a way that is 100% recycling! i.e. I reuse them! I line my trash cans with them, toss the wet swim suits in them and use them for the cat litter. A paper bag is not a good choice for those applications.

Answer 6

It's amazing that this is still an issue. We are so far behind other countries when it comes to protecting our environment. The question should not be "paper or plastic" but instead it should be "how many bags do you need to purchase?" We all pay for bags now in the cost of goods sold to us. Wouldn't it be great to charge 25 cents a bag and have most of it go back to the community for clean-up projects or conservation effects? It would not only help protect our environment but our pocketbooks too! We pay the price to recycle now. Why recycle when we can eliminate the need to recycle bags altogether?

Answer 7

Bringing your own canvas tote is the most environmentally-friendly option. Some stores will even give you a discount if they see you using this option [as they should].
if that's not possible, paper is the next best choice. Plastic bags are extremely difficult to recycle & require a lot of oil- not a good combination.

Answer 8

Good question. And long debated. The answer, as many have already told you, is to bring your own bag. Paper and plastic are both good, as long as you reuse them. But the very best is a machine washable, fair-trade, ORGANIC cotton tote. For great options and even better prices, check out reusablebags.com.

Answer 9

Paper!! I hate those plastic bags that let your groceries roll all over the trunk of your car, and the handles that break because the bagger has loaded them up with too many objects!

Answer 10

Minimise usage of plastic to save on petro productg. Biodegradable paper usage is most desirable. However, plantation must be done continuously to replace the chopped off trees.