Paper or Plastic or Not?

“Paper or plastic?” It’s a common phrase that’s so seemingly innocuous. One goes grocery shopping, one pays for one’s food, and one takes the bagged groceries home. However, there are a number of implications to consider when making that choice. Consider these factoids:

• Billions of plastic bags are choking our planet. Each year, an estimated four to five trillion plastic bags are used worldwide, according to the Worldwatch Institute.
• Plastic bags produce less air pollution and water waste and take up less space in landfills; however, paper bags are made from a renewable resource, unlike plastic bags, which contain petroleum.
• Americans recycle 19.4% of paper bags, compared to only 0.6% of plastic bags (E.P.A. statistic).
• Making a single paper bag takes slightly more energy than making two plastic bags — but one paper bag usually holds as much as two plastic ones.

While some plastic bags are recycled, too many others end up in landfills. Worse are those bags that end up on the sides of roads, hanging in trees, and floating in rivers and lakes. Every year, hundreds of marine animals die from ingesting plastic bags they mistakenly thought were food.

Worldwide, there is a growing backlash against plastic bags.

In 2002, the Republic of Ireland became the first country to introduce a plastic bag tax (PlasTax). The tax resulted in a 90% drop in plastic bag consumption. The revenues raised from the tax are used to benefit the environment.

Other countries and cities around the world are considering implementing a similar tax, including New York City. San Francisco has passed legislation banning the use of plastic bags.

Whole Foods has recently stopped offering plastic bags in some of its stores, with plans to eliminate them entirely within a year. Ikea offers plastic bags, however, shoppers must pay for them.

While paper bags will continue to be an option for shoppers, there is another easy option. Bring your own cloth bags to the store with you. Recycla is a big fan of bringing her own cloth bags, not only when she goes to the grocery store, but also when she goes to other stores. She may get some funny looks from the cashiers at Tar-zhay when she hands them her cloth bags, but she doesn’t care.

Most grocery stores sell cloth bags for a reasonable price; Whole Foods occasionally gives away the bags free to shoppers. Recycla has a nice collection of bags from a variety of stores; however if she were in the market to buy more bags, she would choose some of these:

T-shirt bags on Etsy: This Etsy seller (zJayne) creates tote bags out of old t-shirts and sells them for very reasonable prices. They’re colorful and handy and REUSE castoff clothing that might otherwise have gone to waste. You can buy them singly or in bulk. Several people sell t-shirt bags on Etsy. (Prices vary, however, Recycla saw some bags for just a few dollars each.)

For the more fashion-minded shopper, how about a cute floral tote, also on Etsy. Whimsiedots sells the cutest bags in a variety of colors and sizes, as do KatWhitt, Pricklie, The Birch Tree, and so many other talented crafters. (Prices vary from seller to seller.)

If you would like something a bit more structured, Recycla highly recommends the collapsible basket sold by Garnett Hill. Recycla has the blue basket and is eyeing the leopard print one. These baskets come in a variety of colors and hold an amazing amount of stuff. When you’re done shopping, the basket folds flat for easy storage. ($30-$34.)

Reusable Bags offers an amazing selection of bags and other containers on its website, including one made from recycled rice bags from Asia. The website has big bags, small bags, colorful bags, plain bags, lunch bags, string bags, and much more . You can shop by price, by material (bamboo, hemp, etc.), by use, and more. The website is a great source of information too, with plenty of facts to fuel your desire to save the planet by making this one simple change. (Prices vary by product but are generally quite reasonable.)

If you forget your cloth bags, opt for paper bags if they are available. If plastic bags are unavoidable, try to reuse them at least once before ultimately taking them back to the grocery store to be recycled. Some uses include:

• Trash bags — duh, that one’s a no brainer.
• Transporting sneakers to and from the gym or elsewhere, whilst still keeping your other clothes clean.
• Crafts — There are several websites that offer numerous suggestions.
• What other ideas can you fine folks come up with?

Remember, even eliminating the use of one plastic bag a week is an improvement. Just do what you can.