Paper or Plastic? . . . .Or not.

           For Christmas last year, my aunt made me a cloth grocery bag, so I’d never have to decide between paper and plastic again. It had music notes and flowers and  it was cute and I loved it. Loved it so much, in fact, that I started just using it to carry my books to class. So I never keep it in my car. So I never actually use it as a reusable grocery bag.

            My poor aunt. She tried.

            Seriously, though, the research says I probably should just use that bag. Using anything is going to cause a carbon footprint, but using it once and then throwing it away with start to add up. Let’s look at some reasons not to use paper or plastic, shall we?

            The most obvious problem with plastic is that it’s not biodegradable. At all. Scientists who are smarter about this sort of thing than I say that it’ll take plastic bags 1000 years to disappear, and even then, it’s not actually degradation. It’s a process called photodegradation, which means it’s breaking down into smaller and smaller particles, which are usually toxic and then are ingested by some innocent and probably adorable animal. Even before they break into toxic chemicals, plastic bags are dangerous to animals. For example, a sea turtle might eat a plastic bag thinking it is a tasty and nutritious jellyfish (plastic bags look very much like tasty and nutritious jellyfish from underwater), and then suffocate. Don’t use plastic bags – think of the sea turtles.

            Paper bags are biodegradable, but they also pose problems. First of all, keep in mind that the paper bag has to come from a tree. Sure, it’s only one bag, but it adds up. Americans use 10 billion paper bags every year. Billion. With a B. That’s about 14 million trees. And although recycling paper bags is an option, paper recycling is not without it’s opponents, who claim recycling paper can actually be a waste of energy. Also, paper cannot be recycled indefinitely. Eventually, we’re going to have to cut down more trees.

            Bottom line is that reusing bags is really a good idea. And a bag that you can reuse multiple times is an even better idea. And if you for some reason forget to bring your bag to the grocery store, at least recycle your bags.