You've purchased your organic vegetables, skinless chicken breast, and oatmeal soup. The grocery cashier asks "Will that be paper or plastic?" You reply, "Plastic please."

      This seems like a simple enough question and there are plenty of reasons we choose plastic: easier to carry, less expensive to the grocer, lighter than paper bags so possibly less damaging to the environment, reusable as garbage bags, because it's the "in" thing, because we have a choice.

      There are many differing opinions on plastic versus paper. So let's take a look at what happens when the consumer chooses "plastic."

      We will follow the travels of three plastic bags. It begins at the grocery store with the consumer's choice. The first bag is filled with a third of the product that a paper bag can hold, so two more plastic bags join the first. These three plastic bags are taken home and usually deposited right into the trash can. Later that week, they are placed outside in the larger trashcan waiting for the trash haulers.

      Plastic Bag #1: The waste engineers come by and pick up the trash. As they are lifting the cans into the truck, the first plastic bag falls out or blows out before they arrive. It sits in an alley for a couple of hours until a car comes along and whisks it down the road. Then a little gust of wind blows it across the intersection, then another car, then another gust of wind and finally it makes its way to the beach. The little plastic bag gets caught by the incoming tide and is dragged out to sea. Water fills the bag making it look like a jellyfish. A seal swims by thinking it looks very interesting and takes a bite out of it. Too late, the seal has already swallowed it and there it will sit in the seal's stomach for months, maybe years. You see our marine animals do not realize that plastic bags aren't natural. Our animals have been living for thousands of years in a world where everything is edible.

      Plastic Bag #2: This bag does make its way to landfills. The bag gets dumped out of the truck into the landfill area. Before they have a chance to cover up the thousands of pounds of daily waste, a strong wind comes up and blows thousands of plastic bags out of the landfill and down the valley. Once the winds die down, workers are sent out to collect the thousands of bags strewn around. But they can't possibly get them all. So our little bag continues its adventure getting caught in trees (suffocating plants), eaten by birds or worse used to line their nests, and making its way into our lakes and rivers.

      Plastic Bag #3: The last bag also blew away but was caught and replaced into the landfill where it sits for years and years, as all the landfill is wrapped in an even larger plastic bag making natural degradation of the material almost impossible. There are leach and air lines which do let the matter inside escape the big plastic bag. Although the landfill operators do a tremendous job to make sure no pollutants enter our water and air systems, some do. And guess what, plastic bags are made from petroleum products, a hazardous waste material, which in one way or another makes its way into the environment.

      Another problem with putting plastic bags in our trash is that our landfills for most cities are estimated to be filled in about 20 years, which means no more places to dump all our plastic bags. More importantly, since we are running out of land to build homes, you might have the pleasure of one day living on top of your plastic bags!

      The best suggestion is not to use a bag at all (for smaller purchases) or bring your own cloth bag. But if you must, please use paper. The majority of paper bags now made from recycled paper do biodegrade, are not suggested but can be eaten by animals, and there are more opportunities to recycle paper than plastic. It does take a little extra effort and thought, so please have a thought about the little seal or dolphin the next time you say, "Plastic please."

(718 words)

↑TOP