1. Paper or plastic—are either good for the environment?
Many people believe Carrier Bags are more eco-friendly than plastic. The truth is they
both impact the environment in negative ways.
In order for paper bags to be created, many trees must be used. Cutting down all of
these trees results in habitat destruction and long-term ecological damage. It takes a
century for the forests to rebuild. Not only that, but the machinery used to cut and
transport the trees uses fossil fuels which emit pollutants into the air.
After transporting the trees, they must allow them to dry for three years before they can
be used. Once properly dried, more machinery is used to strip the bark from the trees,
cut them into small pieces, and cook them under extreme heat and pressure. Next, a
mixture of limestone and acid is used to digest the wood into pulp. After this procedure
is done, thousands of gallons of water are used to wash and bleach the pulp. Now, the
pulp is ready to be run under more water and rolled into paper. The paper bag is now
made, and being transported to stores all over the world. Of course this process takes
more fossil fuel. Did I mention the electricity, water waste, and chemicals it takes to
make the bag?
After the bag is used, there are a few things that can be done. It can go to the landfill, it
can be recycled, or if it has little to no ink, it can be composted. If the bag is composted,
it will break down and become a rich soil nutrient over a period of a few months; if the
bag is sent to the landfill, it will take years to break down; or it can be recycled, but there
is another process to that. In order to recycle paper bags, the paper will first be re-
pulped. This involves a chemical process using bleach and other compounds to
separate the fibers. Next it is washed to be sure there is no leftover ink, then it is
pressed and rolled into paper in the same fashion it was before.
On the other hand, Shopping Bags are generally made from oil. The plants that create
plastic bags use enough electricity to heat the oil to about 750 degrees Fahrenheit,

2. where it is separated and molded into polymers. Most plastic bags come from
polyethylene.
Recycling plastic is more complex than recycling paper. Recycling plastic involves
melting it down and attempting to make new bags out of the same plastic. The problem
with this is, the quality of the bags suffer. Recycling plastic results in a lower quality
product because breaking down the plastic causes the polymers to lose strength. Some
call this process “down-cycling” rather than “recycling”. The upside to plastic recycling is
that it uses only two-thirds of the energy it required to create the original product. It is
true that some plastic bags are marked as biodegradable, and they say the bags can be
composted. The problem is, they take many years to break down in a landfill, and they
never completely break down. They break down into tiny little pieces, which is not the
best thing to help our environment.
It seems the process of creating and recycling retail shopping bags, whether paper or
plastic, have negative effects on the environment. Are you concerned and want to help
save the environment? Then next time you are faced with the famous question, “Would
you like paper or plastic?” Reply with, “Neither.” Make a trip to your local health food or
organic food store and purchase a reusable shopping bag. These bags can be used
numerous times, are typically made from used grain sacks or hemp, and are the only
truly eco-friendly shopping bags.