The Greenest Grocery Bags

You go to the store several times a week and you are usually asked “paper or plastic” or you may even be the devout green, environmentally conscious person that brings your own, but what is the greenest grocery bag solution? Well depending on who is talking they all are green, but let’s look a little deeper and just see who is the greenest of them all.

First we need to establish that life cycle plays a big role in determining green in any product. Normally the longer the life cycle the greener the product, but not if that life cycle is being counted in the land fill. That life-cycle analysis follows each bag from raw material through production and distribution and to the consumer’s hands. It also takes into account whether it’s reused, recycled or thrown in the garbage.

Let’s first look at the manufacturing of each bag and learn more about this process.

Reusable fabrics are normally made from cotton, to most this is a renewable product, but what are the environmental issue in cotton farming. The farming process uses large quantities of fossil fuels in the machinery. Cotton growers use more than 10 percent of the world’s pesticides and nearly 25 percent of the world’s insecticides. Cotton is normally woven outside the U.S. because of labor rates, so again more fossil fuel in shipping.

Paper also uses significant fossil fuels in their process, from logging, hauling and pulping the trees. The paper industry has come miles in trying to be more environmentally focused. From 1975 to 2006 American Forest and Paper Association members decreased the volume of discharged water by 53 percent. During the same period they reduced their emissions by 62 percent. But many argue that paper is biodegradable and plastic is not, we will get to that in a moment.

Plastic bags are made from ethane gas pulled out of abundant and clean natural gas. Many claim this may be cleaner than paper. The EPA reports that making paper bags generates 70 percent more air pollution and 50 times more water pollution than making plastic bags. Paper also uses more energy and generates more solid waste. Two thousand plastic bags weigh 30 pounds. Two thousand paper bags weigh 280 pounds. Now take the storage space, shipping and handling into account and it looks like plastic has the upper hand.

Now let’s add in the waste and recycle factor. The argument is that plastic never biodegrades and paper does. This is a true statement in some respect but our land fills are not designed to biodegrade. There’s no oxygen and no light which is needed to create the biodegrading process. There’s no degradation of materials in a landfill, it only takes up space. People don’t want the stink from things rotting in land fills; they are designed so that nothing rots.

As far as recycling, according to the American Chemistry Council, it takes 91 percent less energy to recycle a pound of plastic than it does to recycle a pound of paper. But what most people get stuck on is the mount of litter. If a paper bag is thrown by the side of the road it biodegrades fairly quickly compared to the plastic bag that hangs around for a long time. So to many environmentalists it is difficult to think that plastic may be a greener product.

So who is really the winner in this debate?

Well it really comes down to life cycles and the recycle mentality. If every person on this planet would recycle every plastic bag then plastic would be the winner. But we know this is not going to happen. Many agree that the reusable cotton grocery bag is the right way to go, if it’s reused over and over, and not left in the trunk of your car.

But one of the greenest approaches not mentioned very often is to buy in bulk and make fewer trips to the store. Go to Costco and you will not be asked “paper or plastic”, you just get it loaded back into your cart. This may be the greenest approach of all.

But in the debate between the three contenders, most would still agree that the reusable bag is the best for the environment, because of its life cycle. Many options are available in reusable bags, do don’t just settle for the drab eco bag. You can find designer grocery bags from Tucker Bags.