Could someone please tell me why plastic grocery bags are

[hickman1937]

more eco friendly than paper? I've been trying to google this but apparently I'm not getting the words right, because I can't find one reason that I have to put up with plastic crap over paper.

[Ksec]

1. Paper = Trees?

I dont really know though.

[hickman1937]

4. But people farm the trees.

And plastic doesn't break down in landfills very quickly.

[Crazy Guggenheim]

2. I think it's also got to do with the energy expenditure in making them.

[hickman1937]

21. You got to wonder about the energy expenditure. Human or Gas

and oil? Or electricity. Humans, in my experience, are more than willing to expend the energy for a living, but the wealthy humans like machines.

[Crazy Guggenheim]

22. True. But it's in the overall processing.

[hickman1937]

24. Or is it in the pollutants need to process pulp into paper?

I really don't know. I suspect paper bags are too labor intensive to produce, and the pollutants used to bleach writing paper are used as an excuse to substitute plastic for paper.
edit for stupidity

[Crazy Guggenheim]

25. That could be it also.

[WCGreen]

3. A lot of them are made with cellilous and they break down

better in the land fill.....

I don;t know......

[hickman1937]

6. Good to know. Maybe that's why I have to pick most of my

grocerys up off the sidewalk when their in plastic.

[WCGreen]

8. LOL

[alarimer]

12. I guess that is why they only put one item in each bag!

Because they would fall apart otherwise. It just seems so wasteful. And I don't know what to do will all the bags I get. Well some I use for kitty litter but I still have a lot left.

[hickman1937]

14. How do you use them as kitty litter?

This I need to know.

[WCGreen]

26. We put the stuff we pull out of the kitty litter in the plastic bags...

[hickman1937]

29. LOL. So do I. But alarimer uses them for kitty litter.

Just seems like plastic would magnify the stink.

[alarimer]

30. I meant I put used litter in them to throw away

I guess I wasn't clear.

[saged52]

5. I hate it when you have to cart 27,000 plastic bags in the house

as opposed to a few paper bags. I use my paper grocery bags for wrapping paper - at Christmas everyone knows to return the paper to me for additional future wrapping paper. Hell - I'm using tags and ribbons that are probably 20 years old!

[Crazy Guggenheim]

7. Good point. I use the paper ones for everything.

[hickman1937]

9. I think I'm going back to paper.

I need to do some research, but I don't have a clue where to look.

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

10. Who says they are?

I have never seen that claim.

[Crazy Guggenheim]

11. I've seen it around and about. Not on the Net though.

[OldLeftieLawyer]

13. I use string bags

They hold a ton and can be shoved into my pocket when they're empty.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

15. Plastic bags are NOT more ecofriendly than paper...

Regular plastic does not ever break down in the landfills..

It can be recycled, though, for a while...

I have two big canvas bags that I take to the market..and I use those all the time...

Anything I get that doesn't fit in those, then I get paper bags..

The paper is definitely recyclable, and we use those at home for the paper recycles..the newspaper, the junk mail and so on....

Even using one canvas bag is so helpful in conservation efforts...

You might try checking out the website of the Sierra Club..if anyone knows about recycling it would be them...

:kick:

[saged52]

17. excellent idea!

we make donations to Natural Resources Defense Council and The Nature Conservancy and seveal others. We now have many large canvas bags (for groceries, library books, etc.) to say nothing of the adorable stuffed animals we get for our critter (my grandaughter.)

[hickman1937]

18. I love big canvas bags. Unfortunately so do my fellow shoppers.

I've had 5 stolen out of my cart in the last 2 years.

[Gregorian]

16. My educated, haha, guess.

I'm supposed to know this stuff. But now that I'm forced to give it real thought, I'm a bit perplexed myself. Both can be recycled.

Trees are renewable. That is the line that the forestry idiots give, at least. And they are. Sort of. On a timeframe of decades.

Plastic is made of petroleum, and it's definitely NOT renewable. But it's recyclable.


There are several other factors that I can add to the discussion. One would be the amount of material per unit (whatever a unit is). A paper bag is processed, and requires a fair amount of "tree". A plastic bag is popped out of a machine with very little energy intensive effort. And it does not take much material.

That's about as good as I can do.

I might add that I've got a prototype for an invention that would revolutionize the grocery bag. But I let people discourage me. I think it would be a great idea. Others poo pooed it. So I let it drop. But this is something I spent a bit of my energy thinking about.

[hickman1937]

20. Thomas Edison never let anyone discourage him. I say go for it.

And as your adviser I get one for free? Maybe?

[obxhead]

19. Baggers at the grocery store don't know how to pack a paper

bag anymore. Plastic is easier.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

23. Really?

They sure do know how at my store.....


:shrug:

[obxhead]

28. In my experience

They pack the paper bags the same as plastic - 3 items per bag. I'm glad they have it figured out where you're at.

[Lilyhoney]

27. I request paper at the grocery.

I have many more uses for a paper bag than a plastic. I hate to even touch a plastic bag.

Trees are a renewable resource. The oil used to make the plastic is not.