Cotton Bags

Which is really better for the environment - paper or plastic bags?

Keep in mind that the logging industry uses huge amounts of gasoline/oil cutting and transporting logs to the paper mills, which are among the worst air and water polluters, and that due to the difference in weight and volume, it takes many more trucks to deliver the same amount of paper bags to the stores than it does plastic. And of course, plastic has its own drawbacks.

Public Comments

1. paper
2. Actually paper according to a special I saw on PBS.. The plastic bags use less natural resources to make, believe it or not. So.. either way you're not doing the environment any favors. In Europe most people bring their own cloth bags to the store and that is the most popular way to do it. You even have to pay for bags at some places over there. Of course you also pay about $5.00 a gallon for gas there too, so they have learned to conserve money and resources.
3. paper dissolves and degrades much, much faster than plastic and is more environmentally safe
4. paper
5. At least paper bags can be part of the cycle. We use canvas bags which we take to the grocery and put our purchases in.
6. Assuming you recycle, it turns out to be pretty much a wash. The best all around environmentally is a canvas or cloth bag that you re-use over and over.
7. We're all going down someday anyway, and we do need bags so I will say paper because they are easier to carry and they are handy to reuse. I will say plastic because they are fabulous for reuse in small trash cans as well as compact. Then again why not just reuse the boxes that the store items came in to begin with that would be the most environmentally friendly.
8. Despite all that about paper, I still think it is more environmentally friendly...it has one asset that plastic doesn't...it is biodegradable. So, no matter what, it will become part of the earth again. Besides, I'm sure plastic production causes pollution and gasoline usage to run the machines, etc. Or if not, something equally terrible. And what can you do with plastic when it's done? Nothing. Well, recycle, but what about those that don't? It would lay on the ground for years and never degrade. Also, I recently heard that plastic is hazardous to our health.
9. Never thought about all of that. I'm gonna say plastic though. I think it has more draw backs. First it never goes away, and may animals and humans have died from suffocation from plastic bags.
10. paper is better because paper is biodegradable. but it does kill trees making them. i guess we could plant more trees. or not use bags at all. or use cloth bags-bring your own and reuse them. or recycle plastic bags.
11. Be it paper or plastic you will still transport it anyway. So oil and its costs are going to be present. The difference between weight and volume is marginal when you talk about having that oil itself producing that plastic. You basically carry oil with that same oil and will not be able to recycle it, thus cuttin on production and transportation again. Paper comes up a winner each time.
12. paper will always be the better product. it is and will be recycled again. how ever if this is a real problem for you, make or purchase your own carrying bags out of hemp!
13. Paper. It takes huge amounts of gasoline/oil to produce plastic bags and transport them too. Paper is renewable and biodegradable.
14. What is best for the environment is re-usable mesh bags. As you pointed out, both paper and plastic have their drawbacks. A bag you can use over and over again works much better. In fact, there are some grocery stores that charge 3 cents a bag just to get you to bring your own re-usables. -Dio
15. Plastic is made out of petroleum products. I'm pretty sure the factories that produce it takes quite a bit of energy just as it does to produce wood products. I can't imagine what kind of pollutants are a by product of plastic production but I'm fairly sure I wouldn't like it. At least trees are a renewable resource.
16. If they made the bags out of hemp, they would be much stronger and way more environmentally friendly. Plastic is bad too. We went backpacking in the mountains in Northern California, several years ago. It was terrible to come up on some areas and see nothing but short, tree stumps for as far as we could see. :( Until someone comes up with a better idea, let's all use canvas! Many canvas products are made from hemp. It's fibers are super strong.
17. I just want to say a couple of things here. Biodegradable paper? - show me! Prove it. OK, you let a tree limb sit it the forest long enough it will be either burned up, be eaten by termites, blown away, but there is NO microscopic organism that eats cellulose - Believe me, there isn't! And another thing, processed paper is even less likely to be "eaten" by termites, because it's been bleached, and treated - we've essentially taken all the good food out of paper by processing it. I saw a story on PBS about this guy that dug into a 30 year old landfill and the first thing he found was a phone book - still readable - no clothes - no plastic - just paper, newpapers, letters, and glass of course. I'm not saying plastic is better than natural paper for the environment I just wanted the facts to be clear.
18. The French instituted a law that bags need to be biodegradeable.... so they're working on biodegradeable plastic. who would've thought!