One Habit at a Time – Use Cloth Shopping Bags
Paper or Plastic? Neither, I choose CLOTH! That is what is printed on my bag that I got at the Chili Cookoff from the Palo Alto Recycling Program.
In a comparison of the two types of grocery bags, Franklin Associates concluded that the manufacture of plastic bags produced considerably less air pollution, water borne wastes, and industrial solid-waste than the manufacture of paper. Because plastic bags are lighter, they also produce less post-consumer solid waste, taking up less space in landfills. Researchers found that plastic sacks have these advantages even when grocery store clerks pack less in each bag, thereby using 1.5 or 2 times as many plastic bags to pack the same groceries as paper.
Energy-wise, it is a tie. Plastic bags required slightly less energy to manufacture at a use rate of 1.5 to 1 compared with paper and more energy at a use rate of 2 to 1. Paper bags are better because they are made from wood, a renewable resource, while plastic bags are made from petroleum. Also paper grocery bags are recycled at a higher rate and are reused more frequently, since many home kitchen trash containers are designed with paper grocery bags in mind.
In the end, it is a toss-up whether paper or plastic grocery bags are better for the environment. The important thing is to reuse paper and plastic bags over and over. Best still is to bring your own cloth bags or ask store clerks to hand you easily transportable items without bags.
It is possible to recycle plastic bags at the Stanford or Palo Alto Recycling Centers or at Safeway. They are not allowed in Palo Alto’s curbside recycling bins. Paper bags can be recycled at curbside. Better still, donate large bags to the Friends of the Palo Alto Library for their monthly book sales at Cubberley; just leave them by the door to their portable at any time.
Try keeping a supply of cloth bags, with plastic produce bags inside, by your front door and in your car so that you’ll always have some with you. Derrick recommends carrying a ChicoBag, available from www.chicobag.com/ Here are some product details:
Made of strong and washable nylon; ultra-lightweight; various colors
Easily fits in your pocket, purse or glove box.
Folds into an integrated pouch with hook for your keychain, belt loop or backpack.
NOTE: ChicoBags estimates that saving 100 plastic bags = saving 1 gallon of crude oil.
First Presbyterian Church of Palo Alto
www.fprespa.org/coolplanet
March, 2007
