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Advantages of Using Paper Bags Instead of Plastic Bags

Grocery shoppers are faced with the question, "Paper or plastic?" It would be nice if the case was clear so that we didn't have to make the decision at all. Unfortunately, it's not so simple. One levels trees. The other doesn't degrade. Fortunately, there are a few more factors that might make the decision easier.

  1. Landfills

    • Paper bags are biodegradable. Plastic bags are not. Plastic bags are photodegradable, or broken up by UV light from the sun, but unless a bag is on the top of a landfill, exposed to the sun, it won't photodegrade. It will contribute volume to the landfill indefinitely.

    Photodegradation

    • Even worse, plastic does not degrade in the usual sense. Instead of the material being lost as it converts into something else, it merely breaks into smaller pieces--i.e. bite-size pieces of decreasing sizes. This is significant because pieces can block the gastrointestinal tract of an animal, preventing digestion of other food. Autopsies on seabirds emaciated from starvation reveal bellies full of plastic pieces. Plastic bags are a small proportion of the plastic floating in the oceans, where seabirds and fish feed, but eventually, plastic bags will degrade enough to be eaten by land birds. Five trillion plastic bags are made per year, so unless these bags are kept underground to prevent photodegradation, there is bound to be a significant effect on wildlife.

    Paper's Problems

    • Of course, the comparison between paper and plastic isn't so simple. While plastic bags are made from petroleum, paper bags are made from trees. Deforestation decreases biodiversity and eliminates carbon sinks necessary to keep atmospheric carbon dioxide from increasing.

    Energy Comparison

    • Paper doesn't fare too well in terms of energy requirements. It takes seven times the transportation space to carry the same number of paper bags as plastic bags. Also, the EPA has found that it takes 11 times as much energy to recycle a pound of paper as to recycle a pound of plastic. And plastic bags require 40 percent to 70 percent less energy to recycle than paper bags. It is little wonder, given these economic incentives, that some grocery stores don't even offer paper bags.

    Paper vs. Cloth Bag

    • To limit the debate between paper and plastic is a false choice. In 2008, China, the largest plastic-bag consumer, started banning stores from offering plastic bags for free. The goal has been to encourage shoppers to return to the tradition of using their own cloth bags for shopping.

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