Paper or Plastic?

Douglas Adams had a great premise for a story about a hitchhiker. ‘Make sure you know where your towel is,’ he declared, with the towel in this case being the basic item a hitchhiker could use for just about any situation. Since we never managed to get the hang of interstellar space travel, human flight, or programming our TIVOs, we have only one question to keep us occupied. ‘Would you prefer paper or plastic?’is the poorly phrased form of the question, only allowing for 2 responses and one valid answer, with the answer being 42. The real question should be phrased : ‘Which bagging material is more environmentally friendly and would cause the least amount of net atmospheric/oceanic harm as I carry my 150 pounds of preservative-laden processed-food products to my planet-killing internal-combustion-engine-powered vehicle?’

‘You Sank My Battleship!’

Well, with the choices being paper and plastic, the only correct answer is sheet metal. Sheet metal is environmentally friendly, very recyclable, reusable hundreds of thousands of times, malleable, ductile, and bulletproof. Although sheet metal containers suitable for carrying groceries have yet to be invented, current projections indicate that in the 22nd century, the weight of the sheet metal grocery box will have a curb weight of less than 250 lbs, which is a 50% reduction in weight from the current 500 lbs. Since we have not managed to genetically engineer our children to carry 650 lbs of sheet metal and pork rinds out to our automobiles, we are currently using our limited resources of plastic and wood to manufacture containers. Both of these choices are absolutely horrible and offer no redeeming factors whatsoever to the public. It is like choosing between a root canal without novocain or giving yourself papercuts on every digit simultaneously. Let’s take a quick look at the wonderful world of consumption-waste bagging!

‘If A Tree Falls In The Forest, Will It Land On An Oil Refinery?’

Probably not. Since the oil refinery has already poisoned the landscape for several kilometers around its immediate location, the chances of a tree living long enough to actually fall and cause damage is pretty close to zero. Both the paper and plastic bag industries rely on waste products to make their products, and these both require additional resources such as water and electricity to manufacture. Paper bags are made from trees, and since the trees rarely jump into the bed of a log truck, they have to be harvested, which makes for soil erosion, water pollution, air pollution from exhaust fumes, and loss of habitat for the little woodland creatures you see on Disney. The trees are then stripped of limbs and bark, and sent into a ‘chipper’ which cuts those majestic sentinels of the forest into one inch square pieces. After treating with bleaches and chemicals, the resulting pulp is dried and rolled and cut into paper bags. To make recycled paper, more chemicals and water are needed to break up the fibers of the original bag, as well as the ubiquitous electricity. Paper bags are not recycled into paper bags, but into cardboard instead.
Plastic bags are a byproduct of the oil refining process. Crude oil is refined by ‘cracking’ the oil into different hydrocarbons such as gasoline, kerosene, toluene, and other chemicals identifiable by alphanumerics. One of these hydrocarbons is polyethylene, or plastic, which is then pulled from pellet form into plastic bags. In spite of endless lobbying and currying favor with public opinion polls and horrible lies told by the plastic industry, plastic does not biodegrade in landfills. There is no plastic eating bacteria. If you bury a plastic bag in a landfill, and come back in two thousand years, the plastic bag will still be there. Plastic bags do not degrade in the ocean; rather, since they resemble jellyfish, plastic bags are quickly becoming a food source for many unwitting species of marine life. This non-nutritive source of plastic garbage clogs the throats and digestive systems of whales, turtles, sharks, and other sea life causing them to slowly die a painful death. We are using up resources and killing our planet to carry a box of Fruity Pebbles to the car!

So What Can I Do To Help?

Well, for starters we can :

* Quit using plastic AND paper bags. Use a cloth bag to carry groceries. Teach your child to knit and crochet, and let them make homemade grocery bags for Christmas gifts.
* If you HAVE to choose between the two (and you don’t) take plastic. Feel guilty all the way home, and make sure you recycle the bag the absolute first chance you get.
* If you aren’t into recycling, try reuse instead. You can get 3-4 uses out of a plastic bag if you are careful, or at least one reuse if you are reckless. Reuse is better than single use, every single time.
* Get your family excited about recycling. Or else, give them extra work around the house until they turn into militant environmentalists. If they iron enough sheets, they WILL see the light.
* Wal-Mart and some other chain stores have plastic bag recycle bins. These are your new friends. Visit them every time you walk in the door.
* If you go to the beach and see a plastic bag or bottle, pick it up before it blows into the water. There! You just saved a dolphin’s life! Good For YOU!
* If you must drink at the beach, drink beer or wine. No plastic bottles, and glass and aluminum are both very recyclable.
* Unbag your ice before taking your cooler onto the beach. This takes away the temptation of just tossing the bag into the sand. Go ahead and break up your six packs too, and toss the plastic rings into a recycle/trash bin.

video : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vo3DN8R35_A
embed :

Video : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FVu9do-uVPM
embed :