What bag should you use?

 

Grocery bags today come in a variety of plastic, paper, and cotton bags. From all the news and go-green activism in media, we know plastic bags are harmful to the environment. But why exactly? Let’s see how the production and use of these bags impact the environment by analyzing its carbon footprints, how it’s reuse and recycle, and lastly its degradability.

Carbon Footprint

Plastic bags we often see in grocery stores and our homes are made of polyethylene or also known as HDPE. Its production takes quite a lot of steps and includes a lot of parties. The whole process emits an estimated 1.6 kg of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Moreover, Paper bags are made of wood. Its production results in high demands for wood and removing trees from their ecosystem. One paper bag is estimated to emit 5.5 kg of carbon dioxide. Furthermore, Cotton production is a water-intensive process. A single cotton bag is estimated to emit 272 kg of carbon dioxide. Thus, looking at their carbon footprints alone, plastic bags produce the least amount of carbon dioxide while cotton bags produce the highest.

Reuse and Recycle

Environmental impact does not depend on carbon footprints alone. It is also based on how it is used. The number of times that a bag is used will decrease demand for new production. Reusing and recycling can offset their carbon footprint. If a paper bag is a reuse 3 times, the total of their carbon footprints is lower than a single plastic bag. While cotton bags’ carbon footprints will be lower than one plastic bag if it is used 131 times. Cotton bags are most likely to be reuse since paper bags are easily torn and while plastic bags are durable, they are often thrown away after a single-use.

Degradability

Plastic bags are heat resistant and hard to decompose. It takes 500 years or more for plastic bags to decompose. Even if 500 years have passed, plastic does not decompose completely. They become microplastics that are toxic to the environment and the human body. On the other hand, paper bags degrade completely in 90 days and cotton bags degrade in just a few months.

So out of all these options, what bag should you use? While the best choice out of these common three options is cotton bags, there is another option that is more environmental-friendly which are polyester, vinyl, and nylon bags. They are partly made of cotton so they are durable and reusable but also partly plastic which has the lowest carbon footprints, making it the best choice for your next grocery trip.

 

By Felicia M/XIIA1/11