“Do the best you can until you know better. When you know better, do better.”
Maya Angelou
Do you ever scratch your head at the checkout line wondering whether the better choice is paper or plastic? Or are you screaming “neither” right now?
Honestly, the answer to the question of which shopping bags are the most eco-friendly is: it depends. Let’s dive in for a minute.
Reusable bags
Reusable bags are the clear winners, with a big caveat. You have to use them. A lot. For example, you need to use a cotton bag at least 130 times to make it a more sustainable choice than a single-use bag. So if you have several cotton bags lying around, and only use them from time to time, it’s not as helpful as you might think. That’s because producing a cotton bag uses a lot of energy and resources (like water).
Other types of reusable bags are produced with smaller carbon footprints, such as polypropylene bags. These are the type you can often buy at the checkout line of the grocery store, and they require less energy to produce than cotton bags. They only need to be used 11 times to make them a better choice than disposable plastic bags.
Nylon reusable bags are another good option. They are durable and lightweight, and are compact when rolled up, which makes them easy to have on hand. Like cotton bags, they can also be washed.
Still, cotton bags are made from a renewable resource, whereas polypropylene and nylon bags require crude oil for production.
Paper or plastic?
Ok, but let’s say you don’t have reusable bags, or forgot them at home. Now what? Again, not so simple. Here are some things to consider about each.
Plastic bag positives:
- Inexpensive to produce
- Use 40% less energy to make than paper
- Produce 80% less solid waste than paper
Plastic bag negatives:
- Americans use over 1 billion each year!
- Take 500+ years to decompose
- Often don’t make it to landfills and end up in waterways
- Create microplastics when they break down in the ocean
- Only an estimated 1% are recycled
Paper bag positives:
- Easier to recycle than plastic bags
- Decompose faster and don’t pollute the ocean
Paper bag negatives:
- Take 4x more energy to produce and transport than plastic
- More expensive to make
- Less durable
What can you do?
Consider reusable bags:
- Start with just a few
- Make it a habit to use them frequently
- Don’t replace them until they are no longer usable
If you choose plastic or paper:
- Bag groceries yourself so you can fill them as much as possible
- Reuse them for other things at home
- Collect the ones you don’t use, and recycle them at your grocery store
What’s the bottom line?
Reusable and paper bags have bigger carbon impact on the front-end, while disposable plastic bags are more harmful after they are used.
Ultimately, reusable bags are the “greenest” choice, as long as you have a small selection, and use them often. As is true with many things, the most sustainable bag is the one you already own.
Yes, the bag you choose is important. But to put things in perspective, the bigger effect you have on climate change is actually what you put in the bag. For instance, a pound of ground beef has 25x the impact as the bag you use to take it home.
Let’s do something about climate change. Learn about it. Think about it. Talk about it.