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Paper or Plastic?
Episode 5: June 05, 2008

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Hi, and welcome to Make-It-Green Girl's Quick and Dirty Tips for an Earth-Friendly Life.

Today's topic is grocery bags -- paper or plastic?

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I was sitting on the train one day, wrestling with that age old dilemma. When I was growing up, a new fad struck grocery shopping. Grocers would actually ask you which type of bag you wanted, before they put your groceries in them. They must have had on-the-job training for this sort of thing, because it seemed suddenly ubiquitous.

Paper bags were the epitome of eco-fashion, especially after scary news reports about turtles choking and birds drowning... because of the evil floating plastic bag. Recently, however, the pendulum seems to have swung the other way. I see no friendly bagging clerks asking me with a smile whether I wanted paper or plastic. Even if it's a tube of toothpaste, mindless automaton clerks who look like they haven't slept in days put your tiny tube into a huge plastic bag. No questions. Just... mindless... bagging.

If you do want a paper bag, or no bag at all, it can be quite a challenge. Walk into the grocery store for a pack of gum and say, "Oh, I don't need a bag, thanks." The usual response from check clerks is a stare that silently says either, "You are from Mars," or "If you don't want me to bag your gum, why did I come to work today?" Should we just let this awkwardness go and not press the issue? Well, if we take a closer look at grocery bags, a real cradle to grave analysis, we'll see that not only is this choice important, but it can have lasting effects.

Plastic Bags: Pros and Cons

Plastic bags began appearing in grocery stores in the 1970s. Like most plastics in our lives, they are made from petroleum products, so your plastic bag started its life (the "cradle" part) underground somewhere in an oil-producing country.

As if this wasn't already a point against the plastic bag, the end of its life (the "grave" part) usually involves a landfill where our bags sit until the Clinton years are considered ancient history. It takes anywhere between five to one thousand years for plastics to degrade in modern landfills, depending on the design and position in the fill. The US alone produces between one-half to one trillion bags a year. This corresponds to about twelve million barrels of petroleum that end up floating around on the streets or in the trash.

The city of San Francisco found these number so disturbing that it actually outlawed the use of plastic grocery bags. However, plastic bags only cost about a cent to make, can be used many times, and can be packed into a small space compared to the amount of volume they hold. In every economic analysis, they are the clear choice. For many households they are essential as well, serving double or even triple tours of duty as gym bags, lunch sacks, trash can liners, and rain gear.

Paper Bag: Pros and Cons

The cradle of paper bags is the same as most other paper products--a forest. Our declining world forests give us cause to reject paper bags, especially now as we are beginning to realize that those fourteen million trees we made into bags were cleaning up our souring air quality. Paper bags cost four times more than plastic to manufacture, and are limited in their durability and reuse potential. On the grave end, however, paper bags are more easily recycled than plastic bags; more recycling centers in America accept them over plastics bags; and they decompose much more quickly in the environment (courtesy of litterers) and the landfills (if your community does not have recycling programs).

Reuse: The Tie-Breaker

It seems from this admittedly shallow analysis that there's no clear winner here. If you're ever faced with the question again, it's better to ask yourself what's better for you, than what's better for the earth. Do you use paper bags for other things like crafts or storage? Do you use plastic bags for trash, like I do? Reuse is also one of the holy trinity of conservation, after all. Right up there with reducing and recycling.

The Other White Meat: Cloth Bags

If you're like me and mine, however, and you have more grocery bags than you know what to do with, it's time to invest in some permanent grocery bags. Yes, folks, permanent bags. Ones you can wash and reuse over and over, hundreds of times.

They come in all shapes and sizes and colors and styles now, so no need to worry about looking like a dork or a yuppie or whatever you want to avoid looking like. Crochet sacks, nylon parachute-like plastic bag imitators, beach bag totes, ballistic canvas, insulated, recycled cotton, fair trade, hand-made, almost any quality you want in your bags is out there. You just have to know where to look.

Try your favorite grocery store first--chances are they've got some totes with their logo on it for you to do some free advertising for them. If not, you can look at a store that sells purses and bags for a suitable grocery sack. When all else fails, try the Internet for ideas and websites to purchase from, or make your own.

I know many of your have already tried this. There is failure at first. You forget them at home. You buy more groceries than you have bags. You forget about the ice cream, and it melts and stains your favorite beach bag. You forget to ask the bagger not to put your groceries in plastic bags and then put them in your tote.

However, these trials can be overcome with practice, and a little adjustment of your habits. Buy lots of bags. Tons of bags. One for each car. One for work, one for home. One to leave with your bike. One at your sister's house. They're not so expensive (many are under $5) and they can last a lifetime. Above all, be firm with those baggers. Yes, they will look at you like you are from Mars. But isn't that better than having to move to Mars because we used up all the oil and cut down all the trees?

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You can find a transcript of this show at QuickAndDirtyTips.com, and all the other wonderful Quick and Dirty Tips Podcasts. Send your questions and comments to greengirl@quickanddirtytips.com or leave me a voicemail at 206-600-3051.

Comments (9) for Paper or Plastic? | Subscribe to Comment

sara Says:
3/20/2009 11:10:38 AM

it has taken me a few years (yes, years!) to get in the habit of toting reusable bags to the grocery store. but i have been persistent with myself. :) i bought many, many cheap reusable bags at my local grocery and keep a stack of them in my car, my husband's car, and in the house. having them already in the car means i can always run out and get them if i accidentally forget them at the checkout line. i also have a reisenthal tote basket i use for running to the library, quick errands, etc., which always goes with me -- to and from the car.

Amy Says:
2/17/2009 11:20:52 AM

I really liked my S.H.O.P Totes for grocery shopping, www.shoptotes.com

Sninkle Says:
1/21/2009 3:13:33 PM

I laughed when you talked about the hassle when requesting no bag. Where I live (Canada) I've never had that problem. I always get asked for small items if I want a bag or not, and pretty much every store sells 'permanent' bags, and there aren't issues using them. I will admit though while I reuse our plastic bags (we have a collection at home and will recycle them now and then) I always forget the permenant bags when shopping.

Lauren Says:
6/24/2008 11:12:34 AM

Thanks so much for this cast, the bag issue is something a lot bigger than most people realize, I think. Though I’ve gotten weird/dirty/annoyed looks from clerks at the grocery store, I always use my canvas bags. I even have some cuter, more “hip” looking canvas bags for when I go clothes shopping. But wow, if I had a nickel for every time I’ve said, “I don’t need a bag,” I would be a rich woman! -Lauren Letstalkaboutlauren.blogspot.com

MissJubilee Says:
6/18/2008 9:03:31 AM

How about the Crutto bag for a handy re-usable shopping bag? http://www.superplanning.co.jp/e/e_products/e_crutto/e_pro_crutto.html It folds up into a tiny little pocket, and you could keep a handful in your car/purse/etc. I haven't bought any yet, but I have a friend who has several, and she says she knows she's done shopping at the market when they're full! We live in China, where plastic bags were just "outlawed" - the street vendors still give them out, but the supermarkets have to charge for them now. Sadly, it's the street vendor ones I always throw away, as they're too thin to reuse without getting holes. The supermarket bags are the ones I use for trash can liners because the trash bags sold here are also too thin! Ah, well. I wonder when they'll invent get recyclable trash bags? (Paper bags are unheard of here, and anyway wouldn't hold up to kitchen garbage.) I'm getting through that phase now of learning to take my bags with me (or forgetting and carrying home half a dozen items without one). And the stores are having to start trusting us to bring things other than wallets into the stores - usually you have to check everything before entering, but now you've gotta take your bags with you!

ruthablair Says:
6/10/2008 3:41:04 PM

I have a hard time remembering my bads if i'm out of my routine. But i hang them next to the rest of my recycling and use them to carry the plastic grocery bags that i acquire when i forget them. Then, my 4 year old has the job of putting them in the provided plastic recycling bins at the grocery store.

KM Says:
6/9/2008 9:12:44 AM

Here in Austin, TX a new fad (much to my delight) is the re-usable cloth bag. Our major grocery stores are selling re-useable bags with their logo for 0.99$ at the register. I see the bags being used for everything. I actually use one as my purse now and carry all of my daughter’s toys, etc. in them. The problem I face the most is remembering to take them to the grocery store, I'm getting better though.

Marleigh Says:
6/8/2008 6:38:27 AM

I've had good luck with bringing my own bag to the grocery store and handing that to the bagger and asking them to fill that first.

IO Says:
6/6/2008 11:38:12 AM

Wow, I never even thought about the impact of paper bags on the environment, but sure, the paper's got to come from somewhere... I usually go grocery shopping with my own bag, but that's very common in Germany where I live. People usually take their own baskets or bags and paper or plastic bags at the grocery store are actually charged for, so they encourage bringing your own bag and since we don't have baggers here, noone complains about the uselessness of their job ;-) Often, the boxes the goods were delivered in (I'm talking cookies and wine bottles, not dishwashers) are stacked near the checkout, so if I forgot to take a bag to work and on my way back I have to do some shopping, I just grab one of those boxes and carry my groceries home in those. I then use them to collect my waste paper.