Green Thursday: Paper or Plastic? Neither!

Next time you get asked that question at the grocery story, do what we do at the LipsYard home: "I've brought my own canvas bags."

What's wrong with plastic bags? Lots. They often wind up as litter, or in trees. They drift into oceans and rivers and kill fish. They can take 1,000 years to decompose. 1,000 years! Plus every time we use a plastic bag, we drive up the demand for oil - which is used to make plastics.
According to EPA, the U.S. consumes about 380 billion plastic bags, sacks and wraps a year. Fewer than 5 percent are recycled. Find out more at their website HERE.

There is, of course, no mystery about why America is awash in plastic bags: They are thin, lightweight, strong and cheap to make. Plastic bags, which were introduced about 30 years ago, now account for four out of every five bags given out by stores.

In a book about packaging called "Paper or Plastic? Searching for Solutions to an Overpackaged World" (Sierra Club Books, 2005), Daniel Imhoff expresses the "paper or plastic" question this way:

"Do we clearcut forests, grind them to chips, and pulp and bleach them with chlorine-based compounds (generally carcinogenic byproducts) to make boxes, bags and to-go cups primarily for one-time use? Or do we make a pact with demon hydrocarbon, refining ancient sunlight into light, easily compactible bottles, wraps and foams?"

Not a surprise is the fact that other nations around the world are leading the way in the fight against pollution. Ireland placed a "PlasTax" of 20 cents on each bag, reducing plastic bag use by about 90 percent. South Africa also taxes plastic bags, and they were banned entirely in Mumbai, India. The battle is coming to our shores, over the objections of big-business supermarkets (there's a surprise. Guess who's side the Bush administration will take?)

Cloth bags are the simple solution. Buy some and keep them in your trunk.

Every Green Thursday, LipsYard will deal with an issue vital to our global environment.