Let's say I'm talking about a conventional super-thin plastic bag (the kind found in the produce section) used to keep lettuce, and it takes a pint of hot water to wash/rinse it, and landfill the ones I don't use.
I'd like to be able to use the same info to determine if it's better to reuse bags or throw away plastic wrap. Let me know what you factor in -e.g. the energy used to make the food to provide the energy used by the bag washer (I wonder if it's significant), the energy used to obtain the plastic, the components of crude that goes into it. Let's assume the water is heated with natural gas. Please identify your assumptions.
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