ENVIRONMENT SPOTLIGHT
The answer is a mixed bag.
By Claire Thompson
quantity requires a lot of water, fuel and cut- is the most “sustainable”? It
down trees. And they usually aren’t made really depends on how many
from recycled material because new paper times you’re going to use it
has longer, stronger fibers. Cloth bags are and, especially with plastic,
typically made from cotton, a particularly how carefully you dispose
pesticide-intensive and water-guzzling of it once its useful life is
Q: I’ve heard that reusable shopping crop. Reusable bags made from non-woven over. Use the bags that you’ll
bags can be less sustainable than polypropylene plastic are also common, reuse the most — and check
plastic shopping bags. Is this true? and they’re actually less carbon-intensive out previous SAGE answers at
stanfordmag.org for advice on
Which shopping bags are most to produce.
filling them with food that’s
sustainable: reusable, plastic or paper
as
gentle on the environment
bags?
Reputation aside, single-use plastic bags
as
the
carriers you’ve chosen.
have the smallest carbon footprint, at
A trip to the grocery store entails a least in terms of single-bag production.
multitude of decisions. Many of us But that’s only the beginning. How we The Nitty Gritty
are drawn to discount prices; claims of use and dispose of bags matters even
Let’s dish the dirt on each type
health benefits; bright, sexy packaging; more.
of bag individually — then we
and — recently — environmental
can
compare.
considerations. But the decisions don’t Two of the most important
end with the products themselves. considerations for the eco footprint of a
Those of us striving to be green want bag (or any other item) are whether we Paper
to make sure we’re using the most reuse it and, if so, how many times. An
eco-friendly carrier. Thus, the question: exhaustive Environment Agency (U.K.) According to the previously
paper, plastic or reusable cloth bags?
report from 2011 found that paper cited U.K. study, it takes three
bags must be reused at least three reuses of a paper bag to
The plastic bag has a bad reputation. times to negate their higher climate- neutralize its environmental
According to the United States warming potential (compared with impact, relative to plastic.
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), that of plastic bags). A cotton bag A bag’s impact is more than
Americans go through hundreds of would have to be reused 131 times just its associated carbon
Manufacturing
billions of these each year. The result to break even with a plastic bag, emissions:
a
paper
bag
requires
about
has been called a “modern menace”, in terms of the climate impact of
four
times
as
much
water
as
with stray bags gathering in the streets, producing each bag. Of course,
a
plastic
bag.
Additionally,
the
ocean and landfills, where they endanger plastics can be reused as well —
fertilizers and other chemicals
wildlife and never biodegrade. They can they just don’t look as trendy.
used in tree farming and paper
be recycled but usually aren’t.
manufacturing
contribute to
But the answer isn’t quite as
acid
rain
and
eutrophication
of
Paper bags are biodegradable and easy to complicated as these details
waterways
at
higher
rates.
recycle or compost. But producing them in might make it seem. Which bag
SAGE (Sound Advice for a Green
Earth) is a project by advanced
students in Earth Systems and other
programs to answer sustainability
questions.
54 SL-YOU | Business, People & Lifestyle
www.slyoumag.com | July-August 2019