Plastic Bags vs. Paper Bags

Plastics are produced from the waste products of oil refining. An analysis of the life cycle of plastic bags includes consideration of the environmental impacts associated with the extraction of oil, the separation of products in the refining process, and the manufacturing of plastics. The total environmental impact depends upon the efficiency of operations at each stage and the effectiveness of their environmental protection measures. Paper is produced from trees; environmental impacts include those associated with extracting timber and processing it for paper products.

Compared to paper grocery bags, plastic grocery bags consume 40 percent less energy, generate 80 percent less solid waste, produce 70 percent fewer atmospheric emissions, and release up to 94 percent fewer waterborne wastes, according to the federation.

It’s been estimated that the US was responsible for the felling of 14 million trees to produce the 10 billion paper grocery bags used back in 1999. Not a figure that is likely to got any less in the meantime. So no, neither bag is greener. But there is another, that is. And it doesn’t require some nerd in a white lab coat to calculate what it might be. Indeed whole towns in Australia figured it out and declared themselves plastic bag free zones. All retailers are refusing to offer single use plastic bags. Their secret to success - it’s the reusable bag. One you use more than once.

Australian Retailers Association (ARA), retailers currently have an agreement with the Federal Government to have reduced their consumption of lightweight single use plastic check-out bags by 25%, as of December just gone. By the end of 2005, it must be a 50% reduction. One of their initiatives on this front has been to encourage reusable bags. See one of the major chain’s offerings here. Even some IKEA Australia stores have gone the route of banning single use bags. A couple of years before, they began charging 10 cents per bag. Bag usage dropped by 87%.

In March 2002 it became big news, when Ireland introduced their PlasTax to reduce the cancerous growth of plastic shopping bags. In just the first 3 months of becoming law, the tax raised $3.45M USD and cut use of bags by 90%. But ten years before all that, a friend of mine, working for a retail chain, introduced a program called “Don’t Bag the Environment”. For every bag the customer did NOT take, the company took 20 cents out of the till, in front of the customer and donated it into a clear money box, to a environmental organisation. This was a remarkable Win-Win-Win-Win. 1) the customer felt great because they’d done something for the environment, 2) marine life had less bags to trouble them, 3) a different environmental group received a much needed injection of cash every 3-6 months and 4) the retailer made money - well, saved money, same thing - because, of the four sizes of bags they used, three cost more than 20 cents to buy! And these were mostly unbleached, recycled paper bags too. (It’s been estimated that the supply of ‘free’ plastic bags to Australian shoppers actually adds $173M AUD to the national grocery bill.)

In short , I encourage consumers to bring their own reusable bags whenever they shop.