Tuesday, June 10, 2008, 8:20am
About a year ago, while at a supermarket -- can't remember which -- I read a thought-provoking sign that was posted at the check-out counter. In essence, it said the store was using only plastic bags.
On the surface, that seemed to be very environmentally unfriendly. But the sign went on to explain a rationale that hadn't occurred to me until then, asserting that the energy and exhaust fumes expelled to transport the same number of paper bags outweighed the fact that plastic wasn't biodegradable. Paper bags take up more space and require more trucks for transport, so the store believed it was lessening its carbon footprint by using plastic.
It got me thinking, so I looked into it a bit further. According to the Society of Plastics Industry, it requires 400 percent more energy to manufacture a paper bag than a plastic one. And while paper bags are compostable and biodegradable, they also cost the world trees, potentially increasing greenhouse gasses. (I say 'potentially' because if the trees used are from paper farms and were planted only for the purpose of being cut down, then those wouldn't factor in here.)