The following article is an updated version of one I wrote several years ago. It has had over 30,000 readers in the last 3 months and has prompted hundreds of comments and lively feedback. I do hope you’ll find it interesting and feel compelled to share your thoughts and insights.
Keep in mind, this is an objective, broad look at the debate of paper vs. plastic grocery bags. Is it a complete, scientific assessment? No. However, it’s a good start, filled with facts and one that I hope gets you thinking the next time you’re confronted with the choice. Enjoy.
Paper or Plastic? Stupid Question
You step up to the register, the cashier asks if you’ve found everything ok and then hits you with the inevitable question: Paper or plastic? I hope the answer would be “No thanks – I brought my own”.
Let’s just pretend it’s one of those rare days when you’re caught without your reusable bags (it’s ok – I’ve been guilty of this a time or two) and you have to choose – will it be paper or plastic? How do you decide?
I realize this is a hotly debated topic and my goal is to simply point out the pros and cons of each option. Let’s face it – paper and plastic are both taxing to the environment. Once you’ve read the information below, I hope you’ll feel more confident in your decision.
The Plastic Bag – a bit of history
These days, most plastic bags are made from a type of plastic called polyethylene. 80% of polyethylene is produced from natural gas – an abundant, yet non-renewable resource. Polyethylene, as a raw material, can be manipulated into any shape, size, form or color. It’s watertight and can made UV resistant. It can be printed on and reused many, many times. In many cases, it can be recycled but is not considered “cradle to cradle” meaning it cannot be recycled over and over nor returned to an organic state.
According to a timeline published by plasticsindustry.org, the first plastic bags were baggies and sandwich bags on a roll introduced in 1957. The industry continued to grow and between 1974-1975 retail giants such as Sears, J.C. Penney, Federated and Allied adopted plastic bags for store merchandise. When did the plastic grocery bag hit the market? That would be 1977, the year Jimmy Carter was sworn in as our 39th President, Star Wars hit the theatre and Apple Computer was incorporated.
In 1996 it was estimated that 4 out of 5 grocery bags used were plastic.
Where does plastic go when thrown away?
2005 EPA research shows that approximately 5.2% of plastic bags are recycled. I was a tad disappointed to hear that number too. On the bright side, the number of pounds of plastic bags recovered according to plasticbagrecycling.org is a 24% increase in 2006 over that of 2005. This is based on a report produced by the American Chemistry Council. So, while the overall number is abysmally small, it is on the rise.
Plastic bags can be melted and reformed into products such as plastic lumber used on decks, fence material, park benches and other industrial and residential goods.
Where do the other 94.8% that aren’t recycled go? They typically end up in your local landfill. How long until they break down? No one really knows but we can speculate. The SPI (the plastic industries trade organization) openly admits on its website that most plastics don’t biodegrade – that’s the process of breaking down completely into organic material which is then assimilated back into the soil. Most plastic will photo-degrade. This means, over time and when exposed to ultraviolet rays from sunlight, the plastic material’s chemical “chain” starts to break down resulting in microscopic particles that mix in with the soil (more on this later). How long that process takes is not clear.
Plastic’s Impact:
Plastic, in any form, has only been around a little more than half a century. Even the most conservative scientists believe it will take at least several hundred years for plastic to photo-degrade when exposed to the correct conditions. I’ve heard the range debated somewhere between 500-1000 years. Whatever the number, plastic experts agree that it’s a long, long time and we have not had any first hand evidence of its decomposition. Most likely, every single piece of plastic created is still here on this planet. That’s a lot of plastic.
Let’s take a quick look at the energy consumed and pollution potential of the plastic bag. According to Boustead Consulting & Assoc. Ltd who produced a recent report for the Progressive Bag Alliance, polyethylene uses less energy, oil and water (potable) than paper bags made with 30% recycled fibers. Their study also shows that plastic grocery bags emit fewer greenhouse gases and less solid waste.
This report also admits that reusable bags may be the preferred alternative (see, told ya!) but points out that most people don’t remember to bring them. Ahhh…that may be true, but I believe that people are smarter than that and when they understand the value associated with bringing their own bags, they’ll remember. But I digress….
Plastic not being recycled can be burned yielding roughly 10,000 to 20,000 btu per pound, most of which can be used to create electricity. This can help to reduce the overall sulfur emissions from coal.
The burning of plastics has its cons. Inks and additives found in plastic can create dioxins when burned as well as emit heavy metals into the air. I must note that the plastics industry claims that more and more manufacturers now use water based inks. However, the ash itself is toxic and needs to be disposed of in toxic waste dumps. Despite these ink improvements, do you believe the continued burning of plastics for energy use justifies the continued consumption of limited natural resources?
Plastic also impacts the environment through landfills. Plastic does not readily degrade in a landfill, hence, your yogurt container will be there for centuries. Biodegradable plastic is really non-existent. Biodegradable plastic is typically made from wood fibers mixed with plastic. When the bag is disposed of, the wood fibers break down leaving millions of tiny plastic pieces to mix in with the soil. There are newer, compostable plastics derived from plant material on the market but those are not the focus of this piece.
I take issue with these microscopic particles that mix in with the soil. One could reasonably argue that we wouldn’t know these particles existed in the soil and that they wouldn’t affect the growth of plants. Fair enough. Personally, I hold the belief that healthy soil equals healthy food. Adding plastic to the mix seems to go against nature. However, my greatest concern is the potential effect on animals and aquatic life who can’t discern between digestible particles and these microscopic plastic bits that their systems do not accept as food (this is assuming most animals don’t wash their veggies like we do). These particles will either poison animals and aquatic life or become part of their system. These animals are then ingested by larger prey, so on and so forth, until it may very well end up on your dinner plate or at the local sushi bar. I’ll pass, thank you very much.
An argument can be made that plastic decreases landfill mass. Plastics, as a whole, make up 18% of waste by volume and 7% by weight (plastic bags themselves are light and take up very little space). If plastic were to be replaced by other materials, trash weight would increase by 150%, packaging would weigh 300% more and energy consumed by the industry would increase by 100%.
Then again, plastic bags are a significant source of litter all over the world. Unlike a paper bag, that will biodegrade quickly when exposed to the elements, the lowly plastic bag will simply soar with the wind until it becomes entangled in a tree or dangles from a shrub in your flower bed. Nice.
The Origin of Paper Bags:
Paper comes from trees – and lots of them.
The paper grocery bag is an American innovation and was designed in 1883. It’s made from kraft paper – the word ‘kraft’ coming from the German language meaning ’strong’. Kraft paper is known for its strength and course texture. It’s strength lends to its reusability.
According to the American Forest & Paper Association, 2007 marked an all-time high of 56% for the recycling of paper consumed in the U.S. Curbside paper collection is easy and readily available in most parts of the country. While I applaud the consumer and the industry for reaching this goal and beyond (the industries goal is 60% by 2012) I’d like to point out that the manufacturing of paper products, like plastic, consumes natural resources and creates pollution. As a matter of fact, the production of a paper bag consumes 1 gallon of water (yep, per bag) equating to 50 times that of plastic bags. Yikes!
How does a paper bag get from forest to grocery store? Trees are found, marked and felled. Machinery is then used to remove the logs from the forest floor – whether by logging or, in more remote areas, helicopters.
Machinery requires fossil fuels and roads (which destroy habitat) thereby creating stress on the forests’ inhabitants (even logging a small area has a large impact on the entire ecological chain in surrounding areas).
Trees must dry at least three years before they can be used to make paper. Once aged, machinery is used to strip the bark, which is then chipped into 1 inch squares and cooked under tremendous heat and pressure. This wood stew is then ‘digested’ with a limestone and sulfurous acid for eight hours. The steam and moisture is vented to the outside atmosphere, and the original wood becomes pulp. It takes approximately three tons of wood chips to make one ton of pulp.
The pulp is then washed and bleached, both stages requiring thousands of gallons of clean water. Coloring is added to more water, and is then combined in a ratio of 1 part pulp to 400 parts water to make paper. The pulp/water mixture is dumped onto a web of bronze wires, the water showers through, leaving the pulp to dry. This final product is then rolled into paper.
Whew! What a lot of resources to just make the paper. We must include all of the chemicals, electricity, and fossil fuels used in the shipment of this raw material and in the production and shipment of a finished paper bag.
Where does a paper bag end its useful life?
Paper, when thrown away, can either be recycled or end up in the landfill. If it finds its way to the landfill, over time (and usually many, many, many years) it will break down into organic material. Paper bags can also be recycled in your yard (used as an effective weed barrier under top soil) and it will break down much faster. If it’s lucky enough to be recycled, the following process occurs:
The paper must be returned to pulp. This is done by the use of several different chemicals including sodium hydroxide, hydrogen peroxide, and sodium silicate. These chemicals bleach and spread out the pulp fibers. These fibers are then run through cleaning and screening sequences that remove any contaminants. The pulp must then be washed with clean water to remove ink particles that were removed from the paper by the chemical process. Flotation is a common way to remove ink. The pulp is submerged in clean water and heated. The ink attaches to air bubbles, which must then be removed before they break and let the ink float back to the pulp.
Most recycling centers treat the water they use to remove contaminants. Screens and mechanical cleaners are the typical methods used. Another, more environmentally friendly method is called ’sludge handling’. Sludge is composed of water, inks, pigments and small particles of waste. The materials are separated and cleaned. By including this process, it reduces any waste that may have to be taken to the landfill. These waste materials can be used in bricks, fertilizers and other useful products.
Other uses for paper bags:<br>
A well-packed, single, grocery-size paper bag can hold the same volume of loot as 4 plastic bags. They hold a lot. Reuse them as trash can liners, book covers, or other craft projects. They also make great weed barriers (put down over weeds and cover with mulch) and eventually break down and naturally compost. Did you know paper bags can be composted (provided they don’t have a lot of printing on them)? Throw them straight into the compost pile (tear into small pieces for best results) or fill with yard green waste and toss straight into your compost pile.
Conclusion
Both paper and plastic bags consume large amounts of natural resources and the majority will eventually end up in the landfill. Both bags can be recycled to some extent and can be utilized around the house. I’ve read several studies comparing the two choices and none of them agree. Some feel plastic is the better overall choice, others paper. It’s really tough to say. Paper may consume more resources to produce, however, it is also more recyclable than plastic if you include the fact that paper can be composted and plastic bags cannot.
In my opinion, neither one is the winner. the best choice overall is to use a reusable bag. Many are made from recycled materials such as the new ChicoBag rePETe bag or natural materials such as our cotton string bags. Depending on the style, they’ll hold from 25-40lbs and last for years. Most can be machine washed and can be kept in the car, glove compartment, purse or backpack. If your local supermarket gives you 5 cents a bag every time you use it, and you buy groceries once a week, it’ll pay for itself in about a year and a half. Most bags last for 3-10 years and beyond (I still have my original string bags that are over 10 years old and going strong). Many countries around the globe and many cities here in the US are banning the use of plastic bags at checkout or are charging for them. This makes the adoption of reusable bags are an even smarter choice.
Taking all the above information into consideration, feel confident that you’re making an informed decision the next time you’re at the grocery store. The most important thing to remember is to utilize every possible use for both the plastic and paper bags you do end up with to lengthen their life and minimize the impact on both the environment and our natural resources.
Tags: paper bags, plastic bags, reusable bags
Great article Val.
In Europe, at least here in Switzerland, this is a relatively moot point. Most everyone goes to the store with their own bags and, if not, they are charged for the store bags (all of which are paper or recycled plastic). While they are not expensive, around .25, it doesn’t take long to realize that you are throwing money away.
Very informative article!
I commend your faith in Americans to plan ahead far enough to remember to bring reusable or recycled plastic or paper bags with them to the store. However, as someone who’s been recycling vegetable and other plastic bags and storing them in a reusable grocery bag to bring to the store, I can attest to the difficulty of remembering the bags. I forget to bring the bags 90% of the time. However, if there was even a $.25 charge for bags, I bet I’d remember to bring them. Incentives matter, as the economists say.
Hi Shannon. Yes, remembering can be tricky, but the more you do it, the better you get.
I took on a challenge put forth by a More Hip Than Hippie (our podcast) listener – Ed Stites about 2 years ago. The challenge is to take less than 10 plastic bags a year. In 2008 I hit about 15. Doh! But, better than 2007. I keep track every time and this really helps me to remember to bring them. It’s a fun challenge and don’t beat myself up (too much!) if I forget. I just keep moving forward.
I thnk plastic is beettter bcuz it can stretch more and wont break so easily
Very nice article. I commend the Europeans for their pollution protection methods. I think eventually it will take something like that to get the majority of Americans thinking before we act. I myself, always use plastic for my groceries. The sad thing is I think about all those bags and where they might end up each time I visit the store. Thanks for the insight.
okie dokie im gunna go cut some trees down for paper bags instead of renewable plastic silly me
Sierra try EcoSac string bags they’re so stretchy.
I agree, it’s hard to remember to bring them, so I am trying to leave two reusable bags in my car just in case I decide to go shopping all of the sudden.
I love collecting cute reusable bags, and even better when I go to use them people comment on how cute and ecofriendly they are. It becomes really fun.
I wish the US charged people .25 or even .10 because it would make people see how easy it is to reuse bags once you have them.
There is no excuse for not using a reusable bag. If you forget then you don’t take any bag. I have been doing it for 15 years. The excuse “I forgot” is just that an excuse. It says you are either to stupid to remember something SOOOO simple or you just don’t care enough about the very place you live. Typically the american attitude….I’ll do it later…but later never comes. Until it starts to hurt us in some way. Start charging .50 /bag and see if that doesn’t light a fire under the
lazy and non caring. We are so very self important and non caring about the things that really matter. The very reason the rest of the world doesn’t care for us. Harsh attitude…yes.
But too many people making too much trash and thinking putting it out at the curb solves the problem needs to be dealt with quickly and directly.
Interesting .. however, this does not take into account the carbon foot print. Plastic bags have a much lower foot print than paper bags (takes way more engery to make a paper bag than a plastic), same with cloth (or any type of resuable) bag, however i dont think anyone has done the math on how long cloth bags last and if they end up being better than plastic.
Problem will all these articles is that they are out of context. instead of worring about plastic bags, if you really care, sell your cars and ride a bike. That is a real difference, if we all stop using plastic bags it wont make a significant difference, lets all stop buying and driving (gas) cars and see what happens.
My grocery store has signs in the parking lot reminding you to bring your reusable bags. It’s a tremendous help.
This is a great article. I personally have not yet invested in reusable bags but after reading this article I think I will stop using either paper OR plastic bags for good. Its just sad to think how much we’re damaging the planet and the vast majority of people don’t seem to care or even realize it.
Reusable is best, but one stopgap is biodegradable plastic bags. They exist and they work just fine. I use the EcoSense brand as garbage bags.
Oh–forgot to say that I mean the truly biodegradable plastics made from corn-based polymers, not the kind that is tiny fragments of petro-plastic in a biodegradable matrix.However, I must say that the tiny particles of plastic left by petro-biodegradables are probably less of a threat than this article assumes, simply because they ARE so tiny. The biggest problem with plastic films is when they catch and clog in animals’ feet or digestive systems. Tiny pieces are a lot less harmful. As for poisoning the food chain, it seems to me (as a biologist) that this would be unlikely; petro-plastics fail to break down (ie, enter the food chain!) BECAUSE they are so chemically inert. I think they’d be more like little particles of sand–not much good, but not much harm, if ingested.
Enjoyed the knowledge on the processes and pro’s/con’s.
What you apparently don’t know….the only reason paper made sense was that plastic stuck around in our environment for 1,000 years. NOW, plastic is biodegradable…Yes, will turn to dirt!
It’s a process of an additive that breaks down the petrochemical super-molecule where now it CAN be digested by microorganisms…and the best part, in an anaerobic environment (w/o Oxygen like most waste in landfills 3 ft. or more down. And, NO heavy metals, or otherwise bad byproducts!
So, to save 72 million trees per year, reduce air, landfill and water pollution by more than 70% (each category), FIRST REUSABLE, but then get a BIODEGRADABLE plastic bag that turns to dirt.
Most excellent huh! And you thought Texans were dumb!
After I unload my bags, I immediately put them back in the trunk of my car, that way they are always there when needed. Of course, I always get half way to the entrance and have to go back to the car and get them…
just recycle!!! go to your local store and they usually have storage bins for recycling!
Looks to me like that turtle is enjoying that scrumptious plastic bag. Who am I to stop using them if animals love to eat them?! Just a thought..
I wish people would get it together. It’s rare that we see other people bringing reusable bags to our local grocery stores (unless we’re visiting the health food store for specialty items.)
Charging .25 per bag is a GREAT idea!!.. reusable bags are usually only .99, anyway. That’d be a great incentive to buy their own.
I mean really.. how hard is it to put your reusable bags in your car so they’re ready when you need them? It’s not. Granted, about once every few months we’ll be at a store without our bags (usually an unplanned trip) .. But we’re picky about keeping the empty reusable bags by the front door, so whoever uses the car next returns them to the car. Then they’re ready when we need them.
I don’t understand why this is so hard.
every day while walking my dog here in Berkeley, CA, i pick up from 2 to 7 plastic bags OFF THE GROUND. i’m guessing that hundreds of bags are ending up in the bay. and this is Berkeley, a college town full of progressive educated environmentalists. imagine other coastal towns that are less aware or progressive. there are islands of plastic in the ocean many times the size of Texas. we have turned our oceans into our sewers. STOP THE MADNESS!
Solution: Make it easier to recycle and begin campaigns to recycle (plastic bags). Instead of saying, “don’t take plastic,” say, “recycle your grocery bags.” If it’s not easy, economical, or advertised enough, people will not do it.
Example: I’m busy working on schoolwork and stumbled upon this because I’m curious, but I don’t have the patience to read the full article, so I skimmed it.
If the message is too drawn out, people will ignore it.
Let us consider that at least wood is a natural renewable resorce. Plastic comes from oil and is made with a lot of hazardus chemicals. Also what about the use of cloth Bags.
I was a paramedic and I would not want some of the people that I have been into their homes. Bringing disease into the store contaminating my food. Lets face it some people are not very clean. when they pack their food into their cloth bags on a shared counter you will pick up the contamination yourself and take it into your home. I would opt for new paper bags. when ever I went to the store.
My reusable bags are stored in my car in a soft cooler so whenever i shop i have bags and if I decide not to go straight home my frozen food keeps the cooler cold enough for the other perishables.
I have a large collection of reuseable bags that I keep in the car and use for shopping and groceries. If I do use plastic bags, I make sure to recycle them at the local supermarket.
My market also takes styrofoam trays and and paper bags.
I recently started to recycle more paper products at home by sending all pasteboard boxes, cardboard, junk mail, and my kid’s old school papers to the recycle bin. I know I have reduced my trash because i have to empty the trash can less often.
I hate the fact that I am controbuting to this issue in a negative way.
I own a sports store, a soccer store in fact, and most of my customers ask for plastic bags. It really saddens me because most of the products I carry have their own packaging but on top of that customer asks for a plastic bag!
And I can’t really afford to give away free paper bags and can’t tell my customers I don’t have any bags. Any suggestions?
YES! There are compostable bags available for retail stores. You can get them at Biobag USA. Another option to minimize the use of any disposable bags is to train your staff to NOT offer a retail bag unless it’s painfully obvious that the customer needs one.
When Greenfeet had it’s brick and mortar retail shop, we used to follow this protocol (and it was successful):
1. If the purchase was just a few items, we’d gently slide them toward the customer and say “thank you” with a smile on our face. We rarely got the “where’s my bag” look.
2. If the purchase was large, we’d simply ask “do you have your own bag with you today?” and we’d act accordingly. If they did not, we bagged it up for them. We opted for paper bags, however, the compostable plastic bags weren’t available then like they are now.
Hope that helps! Anyone else have good tips? Please share!
If you are going to start a sentence by saying that the plastic bags disintegrate into harmless particles that then reintegrate into the soil, why would you go ahead and say that they are unhealthy? Overall, poor article.
Excellent Amy! Our family took the trash challenge last fall and worked to reduce our trash. We were able to reduce the size of our curbside trash can and knocked by bill down about $60/year. We’re trying to go down another notch – I’ll keep ya posted on that one!
David.
You have a valid point about the carbon footprint and the article does mention that plastic takes less energy to produce than paper.
I respect your opinion about selling cars and riding bikes. It’s not realistic to ask people to give up their cars based on how most of our communities are designed. Transportation is certainly one area that needs a great deal of thought and action and as individuals we can certainly do more to reduce our dependence on cars. Email me at blog@greenfeet.com how you make not owning a car work for you. I’d love to get you involved in this topic!
Articles such as this are designed to get people talking, thinking and providing solutions. Thanks for the feedback!
IKEA sells their awesome big blue bags for less than one dollar each and they hold three times as much.
Great information Alice – thank you! I’ll do more research on this area and update the article as I find out more. Any resources you have would be welcome!
Hmmmm- well, I never thought Texans were dumb. They have a funny accent, maybe…..
I’d love to learn more about this additive. I have a sample on my desk at this moment of a packing peanut, made from recycled polystyrene (styrofoam) claiming to have an additive that allows the item to biodegrade as opposed to degrade within months. I’m diving in to learn more how this works. It would certainly be a break-through.
i use my paper bags as garbage bags in my studio for all paper products and then burn it all for startes for my wood stove…its all fine if you just think it out and stop being “on a side” the poster who says above that it takes more energy to make a paper bag is not thinking of the decomposing of a plastic bag…if you get paper use it till it breaks, start a fire in your woods stove, wrap your christmas gifts, use your head. what can you do with plastic? what can you live with? what will your great grand children think of this nonsense when they look back? its a disgrace that such a simple debate has so much resistance…
Recycle plastic bags! All grocery stores have a place to deposit your plastic bags. Some stores make the bins more visual than others.
I would choose plastic over paper any day. Paper bag production has a larger carbon footprint even though they come from a renewable source (trees). The fact is; trees take many years to mature. We are certainly in the process of slowly deplieting that source. Not to mention it the fact it takes 1 gallon of water per paper bag – that is an atrosity, especially here in california where water is a sacred and shared resource.
Why not charge the same price for reuseables as for a new plastic bag? Then everyone would buy reuseables in the first place, and eventually remember to bring them back so they don’t have to buy more every time they come to the store.
I work in a paper mill. Grocery store paper bags don’t use bleached paper. Bleached paper is like, computer paper.
Saying pulp based paper consumes /uses chemicals to produce and is thus equal to plastic paper in environmental destruction is not true. The impact should be measured on the effect of disposing the finished product-after it has been used. Under this scale, clearly plastic bags are destructive-especially considering the bigger percentage not recyled! Pulp based paper is better by far.
Alternatives to paper which are both cheaper to make, more environmentally firendly and have better mechnical properties are enterting the market as strong contenders and replacement for plastic materials. We are also seeing more starch based resins being used as man made polymer alternatives.
Great article. One comment about charging the same for a single-use bag vs. a reusable bag. You won’t find too many businesses willing to do this as they will undoubtedly lose customers. We’re just beginning this campaign to move away from single-use bags. Alienating or fighting with those entrenched with the continued use of single-use bags will only create animosity. Lets pick the low hanging fruit by providing education and encouragement to use re-usable bags.
Great comments Eric. One step at a time…..
Hi Davis-Kenya
Valid point. I believe both paper and plastic have their cons – one on the front end – the other on the back end. I’m still a proponent for reusable and like you, I choose paper if put in the situation.
Thanks for the feedback!
Hi Sally
Unfortunately, not all consumers could afford them and that might do more harm than good. However, I do think a tax per bag such as a dime per bag may be enough motivator for folks to start building their arsenal of reusuable bags. We gotta start somewhere!
this article is very interesting and i think more peoplle should read it because we are using all are natural resources when we make new paper or plastic bags
http://archive.dailytidings.com/2008/0425/stories/0425_bags.php
In my town, Ashland Oregon about one year ago, I and a handfull of others convinced our 8000 member Ashland Food Coop to experiment with start charging 10-cents for any new checkout grocery bag used, and to sell the resuable bags for cost.
There was genunine concern from some on staff that his would cause all sorts of problems with shoppers complaining at the checkout counters or even abandoning shopping at the store.
After much thought and polling he members the management got throughly behind the idea of conducting a one year experiment charging a dime for all checkout new disposable bags.
Tuen out it is very successful, and not just not-resented but widely lauded by shoppers: Those two policies stimulated shoppers to bring their own bags more often and use of disposalbe paper bags dropped almost instantly down 70% . Before the charge-for-bags policy was in place we already had a relatively high percent of shoppers bringing their own bags. It was about 35% doing that, compared to probably 4% in most supermarkets. After the policy it is now about 85% who bring their own resuable or used bags or accept used bags. This is about 140,000 bags per year in this one market that are not made out of cut down trees.
Ireland took a similar route nation wide and by law in 2001 and saw a 90 percent reduction in disposable bag use when it imposed a 15-cent tax (Euros) on grocery bags.
Charging even a small token fee, even 5-cents, like this proves far more effective than the programs at some super markets that give a discount of 5 cents to shoppers who bring their own bags. THOSE programs result in only a few percent of shoppers bringing their own bags. It’s weird because logically being told “we’ll give you 5-cents if you bring your bag” is exactly the same as saying “we’ll charge you 5-cents if you don’t” — but human brains apparently don’t work that way.
Merchants generally resist instituting this policy of charging for bags, which is weird because they are a significant cost to the merchant. It’s apparently based on an erroneous fear that shoppers won’t tolerate it. The experience at my food coop and the much larger experience of Ikea charging for disposable bags over the last year and in Ireland, and many other places proves this to be a misconception — but it’s still a hard sell to get a store or a city council to implement this policy of inhibiting disposable bag use by charges or taxes on them.
But what the heck:
See if you can get some merchant or council to get on board.
If you need documentation to help sell that idea, you can contact me at t e m p 3 @ f a s t m a i l . f m .
(of course you have to remove the spaces in he email address.)
Alex Censor
I bought 5 Chico Bags because they squish into a very small bag. Bought them at Greenfeet and love them. They hold about 20 lbs – put that much in a plastic bag and your groceries are all over the parking lot. I’ve been giving Greenfeet ALOT of free advertising!! Hmmm, think I deserve a $ off coupon!!!!
http://supergrannysmusings.blogspot.com/
I work at a paper mill that makes grocery bags, among many other products. Trees cut down for pulpwood do not require three years to dry. The trees can be processed immediately. Most of the water used in the paper making process is run through clarifiers, and reused again and again. The remainder is run through treatment systems and returned to the river. The chemicals used to process the pulp are recovered and treated before being burned in boilers and recycled back into digesting chemicals. Most paper mills, especially the ones that produce paper from trees, have their own power plants where most of the things you would think would be waste is turned into electricity and steam, which by the way returns to the environment as well.
The argument that recycling is a better practice than reuse has to be overcome. The “reduce, reuse, recycle” mantra still holds. Recycling is number 3 on the list. Having a recycling program doesn’t in itself justify the creation of any product if the product is generally intended to be wasted. Paper and plastic bags are generally created to be disposed of and there are plenty of options that cost little, are easy to do and will result in significant savings both financially and environmentally. Habits are hard to change but we all have to start somewhere and sometime. If we as a society gave more thought to purchasing or using more durable items, we would waste less.
Go Paper!!!!!
Hi, im using this article for a school project. This website really helped us out. Thanks!
Great article. I just published a short piece about the most amazing homemade market bag I’ve seen (crocheted from refuse by a Benedictine nun!), and some brief thoughts about’s Seattle recent effort to establish a plastic bag tax.
http://thetanglednest.com/2009/03/transforming-refuse-sister-monikas-amazing-market-bag/
I use a few reusable bags when I go to the grocery store, but I also get paper bags when I run out. I use the paper bags to put my kids dirty diapers in instead of using a traditional diaper pail. If someone wants to use a cloth trash bag, wash it, and then reuse it they would be using more energy at home than the production of a paper bag. For these reasons paper wins out. Plastic is a horrible invention.
Every living thing on the planet that has been tested contained Teflon and plastics in its body. Keep in mind that the earth takes care of most greenhouse gases on it own. The main problem are man made chemicals, toxins, etc. being released into the environment and ground water.
A VERY IMPORTANT FACT that most people are unaware of is that THE GOVERNMENT uses many environmental issues to further its agenda and further its stranglehold over its citizens. Carbon emissions are a problem, but not as huge of a problem as creating millions of tons of plastic that will never break down and that have reached every end of the earth. THE GOVERNMENT uses CO2 as an excuse to push more taxes onto companies which will be passed down to the American people through higher costs. Washington also uses the environment to gain more control through regulating companies and the people’s daily lives.
If the government truly cared about the environment then it would use a method of education and awareness. Most American people don’t realize the extent of the problem and laugh it off. People should be proud to boycott irresponsibly made products and urged to do so for the better of the world.
I use glass storage containers, not plastic. I buy organic and turn off the lights when I leave a room. I don’t buy any outsourced products donning the “made in China” label (These goods travel around half the globe and are made in the highest polluting Chinese factories). I don’t buy plastic toys or marketed consumer products. I shop second hand for clothing, furniture, and toys.
I also reuse paper bags at home. Having toddlers means that there will be lot of mess and reusing containers isn’t always feasible.