After making numerous decisions about
what foods to purchase, consumers are faced with one last decision before
leaving the grocery store -- paper or plastic. Is one really better for the
environment than the other? As with most stories, there are at least two
viewpoints.
Plastic grocery bags are light, sturdy
and easy to carry because of built in handles. They also have the added
advantage of preventing foods from leaking onto your car should an accident
occur while enroute from the store to home. They are cheaper than paper. They
have the potential for reuse in the home. When they are compacted, they take
up less space in landfills. In some areas, they are being recycled. Sometimes
you may find that your local supermarket is participating in such a recycling
effort.
Those who argue against the use of
plastic bags are likely to point out the following facts. Plastic bags are
made from non-renewable petroleum resources. Plastics can be recycled, but not
as easily as glass, aluminum or paper. Part of the problem of recycling
plastic bags stems from the fact that bags may be made from one of several
plastic types. Although two plastic items may look similar, they could be made
from different types of resins. This makes separating plastics for recycling
difficult. The plastic industry has begun to address this problem by coding
plastics with numbers to help consumers and recycling processors identify the
type of resin used in production. Some plastic bags have resin codes imprinted
on them. However, for the most part, plastic must be recycled into a product
for non food use. For example, plastic soda bottles cannot be recycled into
new bottles. They can be recycled into products such as bathtubs, flower pots,
parking lot car stops, toys, and trash cans.
In addition to not being easily
recycled, plastic production and processing require the use of toxic
chemicals. Many manufacturing plants that produce these chemicals also produce
hazardous waste and pollute the air. In 1986, the EPA, Environmental
Protection Agency, ranked the 20 chemicals whose production generates the most
hazardous waste. Five of the top six were chemicals commonly used by the
plastic industry [propylene, phenol, ethylene, polystyrene, and benzene].
Claims have been made that some bags are
degradable. In other words, they will decompose over time. Biodegradation
takes place when air is present. Photodegradation occurs when sunlight is
available. Most of the garbage we generate is landfilled (about 95%). In
landfills, garbage is buried beneath layers of soil that make it difficult for
air or sunlight to reach discarded items. The fact is that most plastic bags
just don't degrade, even in a compost pile. There are some new starch-based
plastics that may be more degradable. But few grocery bags are made from that
type of product.
Plastic bags are high in fuel energy if
they are burned, but they emit harmful gases that must be prevented from
entering the atmosphere.
Brown paper grocery bags have been
around for a long time. To provide the strength necessary for groceries, the
bags must be made from high quality paper. Consequently, recycled content is
limited when the final product will be grocery bags. Although they are made
from trees, a renewable resource, the production of trees and manufacture of
paper bags can pollute the air and water with chemicals. Paper bags can be
recycled -- often into corrugated cardboard. Recycled paper may create less
pollution and require less energy than paper produced from virgin materials.
Paper bags are biodegradable, but that process is not facilitated in landfills
where there is a lack of air.
What is the best solution? The answer is
not clear. But, to reduce the waste generated from paper or plastic bags when
grocery shopping, select one of the following alternatives. Reuse paper or
plastic bags when shopping for groceries. Reusable sturdy cardboard boxes or
strong cloth bags will also help reduce waste. In the future, the final task
of grocery shopping could be returning the bags (paper, cloth, or plastic) or
boxes to the car so they will be available for the next shopping trip.
