Paper or plastic?  You get that anywhere you shop.  I don’t ever hear anyone ask, “Paper, plastic or canvas bag?”  Actually, that is beside the point of this post today.  I am actually going to go through the pro’s and con’s of paper and plastic, since we haven’t even brought up yet how bad environmentally paper bags are.

The pro’s of plastic bags:

• they are cheap for the store, less cost passed along to us as consumers
• they are convenient because all stores have them, not all have paper or canvas
• they require less resources to produce than paper bags
• they can be reused as disposal bags
• keeps your goods dry in case of inclement weather
• they weigh less which saves transportation costs
• doesn’t require cutting down trees to produce
• can be recycled into composites or like wood products
• plastic bags use about 4 percent of the water required to make pulp into paper
• they take up less space in landfills

The con’s of plastic bags:

• even if recycled, the process uses considerable energy, which pollutes the air.
• made of synthetic materials so they don’t biodegrade easily
• wildlife die by ingesting plastic bags thinking it’s food
• made of polyethylene which is derived from non-renewable resources
• they come with a suffocation warning
• they clog roadside drains, which could cause the flooding of the street
• even though they are recyclable, the recycled plastic is of lesser quality than of virgin plastic

The pro’s of paper bags:

• they are recyclable and biodegradable
• they stand upright and make great recycling organizers
• they are great for wrapping text books (required in high school)
• holds more than a plastic bag
• cats love to play in them
• can be reused for wrapping paper

The con’s of paper bags:

• washing the pulp to get ready for production uses a lot of water
• they require the cutting of forests to make, which will increase CO2 edmissions
• to produce paper bags produces 70 percent more pollution than the production of plastic bags and requires 4 times as much energy
• it takes about 91 percent more energy to recycle a pound of paper than a pound of plastic
• if they get wet they are deemed worthless

Other statistics:

• plastic bags create fewer airborne emissions and require less energy
• plastic creates 9.1 cubic pounds of solid waste vs. 45.8 cubic pounds for paper
• plastic creates 17.9 pounds of atmospheric emissions vs. 64.2 pounds for paper
• plastic creates 1.8 pounds of waterborne waste vs. 31.2 pounds for paper

Even though they now make compostable plastic bags, the time for them to decompose is still beyond our lifetime.  The only option here then is to start collecting those canvas bags.  If you have any other facts or information about plastic versus paper, please leave a comment below.