On your last trip to the grocery store in the Madison area I bet you were asked this question, “Would you like paper or plastic?”  I also bet you tried to figure out what the “correct” answer was so you could do your part to help the environment.

Plastic, you may have heard, can take from 500-1000 years to break down in a landfill. While sitting in the landfill, if it’s not caught in the wind first, animals may ingest it or get caught up in it and, believe me, that leads to more problems. IF recycled, bags can be melted and reformed into products such as plastic lumber used on decks, fence material, park benches and other industrial and residential goods.

Paper, on the other hand, costs more to produce than plastic. Aside from the resources (chemicals, electricity, fossil fuels) it takes to make and ship paper bags, the production of one paper bag consumes one gallon of water, equating to 50 times that of plastic bags.  What you can do as an alternative is recycle paper bags in your back yard as an effective weed barrier under top soil, and it will break down much faster than it would in a landfill.

Both paper and plastic bags consume large amounts of natural resources and the majority will eventually end up in the landfill. Paper may consume more resources to produce, however, it is also more recyclable than plastic, if you consider the fact that paper can be composted and plastic bags cannot. Either way, there are so many uses for each type of bag that you should try and get as much use out of each of them, before you toss them in the trash.

Here’s the best option of all, however.  If you really want to do what’s best for the environment, purchase your own re-usable bags.  Place them on the front seat of your car so that you remember to grab them before heading in to the store. You’ll be amazed at how much they can fit in one of those bags and you’ll have less trips back and forth to the car once you get home.  As an added bonus, grocery stores like Copps, in the Madison area, will pay you $.05 for each reusable bag that you bring in to pack your groceries in, so they really do pay for themselves in no time!

So, which will it be? Paper, plastic or better yet, neither? The choice is yours!

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