What is better for the enviroment when I am at a grocery store?

Question

Is using plastic bags and recycling them or using paper and not recycling them more Green? ( FYI - using cloth is not an option)

Answer 1

Permaculture Answer:

The scale of the use of plastic is a major environmental problem. Plastic production is highly unsustainable, presuming that we are talking about the oil based plastics and not the new bio-starch products. Plastic carrier bags are ephemeral so they are quickly disposed of. The chances are that the bag will end up in landfill after one use.

Plastic Bags: There are a lot of reasons given why people 'like' plastic bags. However, they still never decompose no matter how many times you use them. This is compounded when people tie their rubbish into plastic bags and thousands of other such filled plastic bags are piled on top of each other iin landfill sites. So if you must use plastic, re-use as many times as possible then take them supermarket to be recycled.

Biodegradeable Bags/Bioplastics: Polylactic acid (PLA) a biodegradable polymer derived from lactic acid. These vegetable based bioplastics biodegrades quickly under composting conditions and does not leave toxic residue. However, bioplastic have own environmental impacts caused by manufacturing and disposal of end product. Charges will be levied for plastics and bioplastics as the Government are having to pay landfill penalties. You will be charged for these impacts and taxed but on the plus side biodegradable bags (from potato and corn starches) are a new thriving industry

Paper Bags. Great if singly composted. In land fill can take years for layers to decompose. Still an organic material. But there is cost of production, costs to environment of pulp trees (monocultures, loss of habitat, etc) costs of recycling/disposal. Again you will have to pay for these production costs and disposal costs and taxed.

Recycle the cardboard boxes at the store to carry your groceries home or just pack into the boot of your car without bags and then carry in from the boot.

France is banning plastic bags 2007 others are moving towards it. The most effective is taxing plastic bag use. If we do not take action we will be taxed as the Irish are for using plastic bags. Effective as a decrease of 90% plastic bag use in Ireland.

http://www.voanews.com/english/archive/2006-12/2006-12-10-voa10.cfm?CFID=169987849&CFTOKEN=31108901

I don't understand why cloth is not an option. Whilst cotton bag production is also unsustainable it is generally used many many more times, generally for a number of years. And are not non-biodegradable. People do not tend to tie their other rubbish into a cloth bag to send it to landfill. Cotton bags will compost in any home composter. Therefore a reused bag made of cloth clearly does not have the same detrimental effect on the environment as a reused bag made of plastic (or many). The environmental impact of plastic bag disposal is magnified because of the number of the bags that are used.

A wicker basket would be the obvious thing, to cut down on this massive use on single-use plastic carrier bags. Willow can be grown on sewage outfall which as we know is an environmental pollutant. There are no ENVIRONMENTAL costs of processing/production of a willow basket. It is a local economy that does not use heat, beat or treat. It could be grown in the supermarket car park dealing with the waste from the toilet block. In Permaculture we call this zoning and edge. It also demonstrates redundancy of function when used in sewage treatment.

Willow is highly sustainable, from willow coppice and returns to the ground without trace. A wicker basket would be the obvious thing, to cut down on this massive use on single-use plastic carrier bags. Willow can be grown on sewage outfall which as we know is an environmental pollutant. There are no ENVIRONMENTAL costs of processing/production of a willow basket. It is a local economy that does not use heat, beat or treat. It could be grown in the supermarket car park dealing with the waste from the toilet block. In Permaculture we call this zoning and edge. It also demonstrates redundancy of function when used in sewage treatment. Willow is highly sustainable, from willow coppice and returns to the ground without trace.

Perhaps the best solution is to LIMIT YOUR CONSUMPTION OF EVERYTHING.

Think about what you are buying first and how the packaging will be disposed of:
Use your local butcher who will wrap in paper.
Buy fruit and vegetables from local growers it supports your local economy. There are usually lots of recycled cardboard boxes at Farmer's markets.
Buy from the local baker wraps in paper.
Buy milk in glass bottles or recyclable plastic.
Avoid pre packed foods and processed foods. The packaging is excessive.

Ensure you recycle metals, plastics, glass and cardboard.
Compost green waste.

There will be hardly anything left to go to landfill.

Answer 2

It what possible instance is using cloth/ reusable bags not an option? Or are you just being hypothetical?

Paper is. Even without recycling it, paper will decompose. You could even speed up the process by shredding it and composting it. Plastic takes at least 400 years to break down. And recycling it takes energy as well, which is usually supplied by fossil fuels.

So your choice is a product made from non-renewable resources, that takes non-renewable resources to make, and non- renewable resources to recycle...or a product made from renewable resources, that takes non-renewable resources to make, and doesn't "need" to be recycled because it will decompose in nature anyway.

I still don't know why you can't just ditch the bags altogether though. There are so many other options that are more sustainable out there.

Answer 3

This question is actually incredibly difficult to answer accurately. What you need to make a good choice, is a life cycle analysis. This type of analysis looks at the two products in question and compares them step by step from the gathering of raw materials, to the construction of the products, to the transport of the products, to whatever you do to the products at the end of their useful life. Certainly (as some have pointed out) paper bags are better environmentally at the end of their life (especially if you compost them), but the process of producing paper from wood is quite energy intensive, uses a lot of water and requires some nasty chemicals. I don't know the answer to your question because I know nothing about plastic bag production, and very little about paper bag production and because there are local factors like how far the bags must be shipped from to contend with...questions like these often appear easier to figure out then they actually are!

Answer 4

Personally it depends on how many groceries you buy weekly or other wise...
It also depends on how many bags are used to carry your groceries...
I happen to be somewhat disabled and if I were to use paper bags I would have to make many more trips in and out of my house to carry bags of groceries inside once I get home...
Now if I use the plastic bags, I can carry many more with my hands and then empty them out and fold them up and I keep them for picnics and travel items and other uses in my house...
Paper products always mean someone cut down trees to make that paper...
I think that is bad...
At least plastic is re-usable, since paper bags will tear, or leak if wet, or just not hold too much...

Answer 5

It's better to use reuseable bags made of organic cotton or recycled plastic.

Answer 6

using plastic bags and recycling them,I always take cardboard box's and have them recycled when they start getting worn out.

Answer 7

Wear big shirts and throw everything in the belly area then just hold it up. You will not even need to use a bag this way.

Answer 8

in our place, we use native bags while we shop, thier even cool to look at and they are reusable