Tagged: easy money savers, easy ways to save money, Elizabeth Rogers, family savings, Green Tips, grocery stores, mom's go green, mom's save money, paper bags, plastic bags

By: SYH

TRUTH OR TRASH?

Paper grocery bags are more eco-friendly than plastic ones

TRUTH

Surprised? At face value, plastic may seem better than paper. But it’s really all about how you look at the data.

In one-to-one comparisons, paper bags require more energy, create more air and water pollution, cost more to transport, and generate more solid waste than plastic bags.

Yet, one-to-one comparisons aren’t really appropriate. As any supermarket-goer knows, when you ask for plastic you often end up three times more bags than if you’d asked for paper.

In terms of fossil fuel consumption, recyclability, and reusability, paper bags actually come out on top.
The biggest issue associated with plastic bags is their proclivity for escaping from trash bins and getting washed into storm drains, clogging sewage systems, and mimicking tasty sea life in the ocean environment. Plastic bags and other plastic debris are responsible for the death of an estimated 1 million marine animals per year

Try This: Bring along your own reusable bags when you go shopping. But if you forget, opt for the paper bag and then reuse or recycle it.