Paper or Plastic Bags?

A

A. BETTIK

1,000+ Posts
Some grocery chain here in Austin just announced they were doing away with plastic bags. What gives?

I find the plastic bag more convenient due to the handle. I can carry all bags (up to eight) into the house at once. Try that with paper, especially in the rain. Will a paper bag hold in better the stenchal funk of diaperfied digested baby food?

Why is paper more friendly to the environment? Paper involves cutting down CO2 capturing O2 releasing trees. Plastic mostly comes from plants and animals long since out of the 'spiration cycle. The added benefit of plastic bags are when they get thrown away, the carbon they contain takes a long time for bugs to decompose if at all. You would think a sanitary landfill would get carbon credits for putting the carbon back into the ground. Bacteria on the other hand eat buried paper and release CO2 or methane.

About the only good I can see in a paper bag is it makes for great kindling along with my newspapers for winter fires. Recycling? Well, how many person-hours and machine-hours does it take to transform a used paper bag into another one?

And for that matter how much energy/money does it take to manufacture a paper bag and recycle it and how much for a plastic bag? Show me the numbers for both cases and I'll compare and reconsider.
 
hmm.. i know they have plastic bags that are much more biodegradable now. Always thought plastic was better.
 
Having thrown drunkenness into this and if to a certain discreetly unmentioned point of no return, then perhaps the better comparison would be between plastic and porcelain? I simply don't think paper would do at all if given all three were equally reachable.
 
it doesn't rain for **** in austin, you probably have a garage, use a reusable tote bag, more trips to the cat won't kill you, make the wife and kids carry ****. plastic doesn't recycle as easy and tends to blow away and become litter. like you buy eight bags of groceries at Whole Paycheck.
 
more trips to the cat?
confused.gif


how the hell did you get a cat to carry your groceries?



me, I use one o them big 59 cent Ikea plastic bags with the yaller handle.
 
I would carry two or fewer bags in at a time, but I am just too lazy. Eight and I'm done in one trip, especially from checkout to vehicle. I really don't like returning the grocery carts, but I do it anyway.

Some articles I came across today:
CNET

MSNBC

From them I gather plastic is cheaper. The problem with animals getting stuck in them seems to be better solved by making sure the bags get into the sanitary landfill than by banning them outright. I recommend a government sponsored volunteer program whose reward would be a carbon credit coupon. Once such a program is in place, any animals that perish or succeed in escaping are actually increasing the half billion year net accumulation of problem solving in their home species.

And if I use cloth bags, I have to wash them at least 20 times before I break even. Possibly more given the water, electricity and soap required to render each bag sanitary.

So I wonder, if I shop at Whole Foods could I buy a pack of waste basket plastic bags, run those through first, then open them up and have the check out person fill those up? Then when I get home I can reuse the bag in my trash can (how many times have you tried to fit a plastic grocer bag in even a small bathroom trash can with satisfactory success?). So really, it would sure be cool if grocery stores used much bigger and stronger plastic bags.
 
You can also recycle plastic bags.

IKEA is almost as bad as Whole Foods. You can still use plastic bags, but to discourage this you have to pay 5 cents for them. Their store is already enough of a pain in the gluteous with their Labyrinth of Hahahah I'll Make More Money If You Have To Walk Past Every Single Item.
 
cat = car (or a well trained cat with opposable thumbs)

use tote bags or them big plastic mexican beach/shopping bags
 
**** plastic

18 items: 14 plastic bags. really? all you could get in one bag was a can of vegetables and a couple pieces of fruit?
 
I also prefer plastic. I just feel weird as a 23 year old guy going to a store with my own tote bags.
 
I hate plastic bags.

Everything falls out of them. And dont tell me to buy a car with one of those hanger things. I shouldn't have to buy a new car or some other gadget just because the store wants to save a few cents.

Sackers can only seem to put one thing in them. Why is it that it takes 7 bags for 10 items.

Don't tell me they are cheaper. If the store doesn't charge me more for paper, then it doesn't cost more.

I can carry more groceries in one trip in paper than in plastic. Guarranteed. Your eight bags of groceries will fit into 2 paper ones.
 
We use the nylon bags atThe Link and they work great. Even with a full shopping cart, you can fit everything into 2 of these bags. They will never break, they stand up, so it's easy getting things in/out of them.

And, no, you don't need to wash them all the time.

Too embarrassed to carry your own bag into the store? I don't get it.
 
Plastic bags are recyclable, but only once I believe. I think they recycle them into composite decking or something like that. But it's a one shot deal.

Paper on the other hand can be sustainable, as long as the trees aren't cut down faster than they can regrow.

Use a canvas bag. They fit tons of stuff. One canvas can hold as much as 10 plastic.

Also, chicks dig 'em. Especially freaky hippie chicks.
 
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