Which Is Better:Paper Bag or Plastic Bag

Plastic bags are so cheap to produce, sturdy, plentiful, easy to carry and store that they have captured at least 80 percent of the grocery and convenience store market since they were introduced a quarter century ago. 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 bag created by Bag Manufacturers  is still here on this planet. That’s a lot of plastic. 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. 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.

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. 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.

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. Paper and plastic bags are used in many purpose like as office bags, traveling bags etc and both are important. 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.