When we think of checking out at a typical supermarket, we immediately think of this age old question that the bagger always asks (or should ask, at least). We can all come up with some performance pros and cons of each type - plastic bags are better if you have lighter weight items, or if you want to sling 5 bags on each arm to only make one trip from the trunk of your car to your front door. Paper bags are obviously better for the heavier things, they do not tear easily, and they stand straight up when you put the on the floor/in your car avoiding messy "spills."
According to NBC, we do know that 92 billion plastic bags and only 5 billion paper bags are used per year. People generally choose plastic bags because they are more convenient. They are easy to dispose of and easy to carry. Supermarkets can't complain, because plastic bags are much cheaper than paper bags on their end. For this reason, most grocery stores have recently stopped asking "paper or plastic?" and instead just provide paper bags upon request. In addition, plastic bags are much lighter and take up less storage space.
Rarely do we ever think beyond these more obvious facts, however. Which one is more environmentally friendly? How many of what types of materials does it take to make each type? Which are biodegradable? Which can be recycled? Are they made of recycled materials?
Paper bags are generally made of recycled paper and are themselves recyclable and compostable. Many people think they are significantly better for the environment. To all of those people: think again. Paper bags take 60% more energy to produce. In addition, their significantly heavier weight means that much more fuel is used in transportation and distribution. They also produce 70%more air pollutants and 50% more water pollutants than plastic bags. Although plastic bags are still plastic, they have certain benefits over paper bags - TONS of benefits, to be more clear. It takes 91%less energy to recycle a pound of plastic bags than it does to recycle a pound of paper bags. Also, plastic bags are fully recyclable and they are very commonly reused as waste containers, lunch bags, even overnight suitcases.
If I had to choose between the two types of bags, I would choose plastic. BUT I DON'T. Nobody does. Remember seeing those reusable canvas grocery bags at nearly every supermarket and retail store you walk into nowadays? If everybody used these INSTEAD of paper or plastic, the world would truly change. Even people who only use one paper/plastic bag per day or two, if they use a reusable bag they have the potential to save over 20,000 bags.
I believe that the government should slowly ween supermarkets off of both paper and plastic bags. First, they could start charging by the bag. If they charged $0.10-$0.25/bag, people would probably start buying reusable bags on their own. Wal-Mart's in California have actually already begun to do this! Eventually, the government could just ban bags from supermarkets altogether. If they didn't offer bags, you would simply have to bring your own. Although this would definitely cause some initial outrage, it would have an immeasurable positive effect on the environment. And it really is not that hard to bring a few bags into the store with you when you need some groceries!
I am a proponent for using canvas reusable bags also. At this point most people would probably say they are in favor of the more eco-friendly option for carying their purchases. I agree that now is a good time for policy formulation on "removing" plastic and paper bags from supermarkets. I believe a good way to start is through an incentive program, various stores offer discounts to customers who use reusable bags. Target offers a 5 cnt discount for every reusable bag you use.
ReplyDeleteWhile I do not think it is possible to completely eliminate plastic and paper bags from stores, for health and safety reasons it is best to wrap raw meat in a plastic bag before putting it into your reusable tote, I do think it is possible through public policy to greatly reduce the number of plastic bags we do use.
I work at a local grocery store when I'm home on breaks and I have to say in the past 2 years there has been a big change when it comes to bags. I would say almost half of the customers I get usually bring in their own canvas or other reusable bags. Many customers will also just grab there items if they only bought a few and say "no that's okay save a plastic bag". I think that the idea of saying neither to paper or plastic is definitely starting to catch-fire.
ReplyDeleteI fully support the use of canvas bags as well. I think the above comment about adding incentive by allowing for a small discount for using your own bag is a great idea. If the government were to write policy however, which banned the use of paper and plastic bags in supermarkets, I think that it should actually be expanded to all retail stores. There are multiple clothing stores that ONLY use paper bags, and when plastic is used, it is generally very thick. If shoppers were to bring their own canvas bags for all their purchases, it might make an even larger difference!
ReplyDeleteI love using my reusable bags, but my main problem is that I always forget them in the car, and then when you get to the check out line it is kind of embarrassing. Perhaps we could have a canvas bag share? Maybe the supermarkets could provide a few and then when people come back they can just drop off the bags that they used last time and take just what they need to take their stuff home. This way if you completely forget you can always bring them back when you return.
ReplyDeleteI was in Europe last summer, and a lot of the grocery stores charged 5 Euro cents for each plastic bag. I think that's the only way to get most people to change.
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