Is it better to use plastic or paper??

Question

For the environment (production) and from a recycling point of view! I recycle both but which is better? And what do you do? Paper is recycled over and over again, were as plastic is only recycled 1 time. However is that true with plastic grocery bags since you take them back to the store to be recycled?

Answer 1

paper

Answer 2

use cloth bags

paper is better with paper u can recycle

Answer 3

I would say, from my uneducated point of view, that paper is better. Plastic bags have a half life of somewhere around a thousand years, maybe more, before they begin to break down in a landfill. Paper is much more easily recyclable and, even if it does get just thrown out, it will biodegrade much, much, much faster, and much more naturally, without any potentially toxic byproducts.

      Plus, I've never heard of an animal getting stuck in or strangling on a paper bag. Animals can digest paper (even if it isn't very good for them) but they cannot digest plastic.

Edit: And yeah, as was said above me - it's always best to use your own cloth bags.

Answer 4

Buy some cloth bags and use them till they fall apart. Then use them as rags till they're done. Bury what's left in your garden after they've been cleaned.

Stop using paper and plastic...

Reduce, Reuse, Refuse

Answer 5

I have reusable canvas bags that I take with me whenever I go shopping anywhere, so I don't have to think about the plastic vs. paper thing  :)  I think paper might be better because it's easier and cheper to recycle, but I could be wrong. That's why I use canvas!

Answer 6

Either you cut down the tree or pump the oil out of the ground. They are both c**p. I agree with the "use cloth" answer.

Yes, paper biodegrades more quickly, but why are you putting paper bags into the landfill? If you use paper or plastic, recycle them. Use them at home as much as you can, then recycle them.

Answer 7

Recycleis best. Today here is what we know:  many of mankind’s advancements cause earth surface to warm, destroy the ozone layer, kill off endanger species and in some way cause more destruction.  Blacktop (roads and parking lots) and buildings heat cities, air pollution (causes lung and other diseases), deforestation (causes duststorms which increase hurricanes and cyclones), fires (cause pollution, mud slides, and deforestation); Refrigerants like CFC's, solvents including benzene (destroy the ozone layer raising skin cancer rates); cars, airplanes, ships and most electricity production (causes pollution including raised CO2 levels). We need to fix our part! That is why I founded CoolingEarth.org a geoengineering web sight. The federal government needs to adopt a pollution surcharge to balance the field and advance new technologies. We must pay the real price of oil including global warming and for health effects. But with that we must understand we have never seen what is now happening before. CO2 has never lead to temperature change, but temperature change has led to increases in CO2. The models have to be made as we go along with little evidence! The result is:  change is on the way. Even natural events are warming earth and causing destruction. The sun has an increased magnetic field causing increases in earthquakes (more destruction), volcanoes (wow, great destruction), and sun spots. Lighting produces ozone near the surface (raising air pollution levels). But humans have destroyed half of the wetlands, cut down nearly half of the rain forest, and advance on the earths grasslands while advancing desertification. The USA Mayor's have taken a stand and I believe are on the right track, we can have control and can have economic growth.

Answer 8

I recycle both but I think paper is better. I try to recycle everything from plastic grocery bags to milk jugs to paper bags to soda cans.

Answer 9

Use reusable bags!  I'd recommend a bag with a flat bottom, that way it stands up when bagging your groceries.  If you're a hard-core green chick, you can make your own.  Or do what I did and go to www.reusablebags.com.

Answer 10

neither really, you should try using natural cotton bags that you can wash and reuse over and over again..but if you don't want to buy those also try then plastic I reuse my plastic bags over and over at home till i finely do recycle them..paper is never good cause it kills our trees..:(

Answer 11

If you have any doubt about the overall environmental impact of plastic v. paper, check out this link http://www.culturechange.org/Petroleum&P...

Plastics are finding their way into our oceans and waterways and causing serious damage/death.  Considering that 75% of the Earth's surface is covered in water, the potential devastation could be immense.

Answer 12

Well, neither paper nor plastic is ideal.  Paper can be recycled, but the fibers are shortened and weakened with each go-round, which means that unless you add new fiber, the resulting paper must be used for lower and lower applications.  Also, many recycling facilities won't take paper that's been in contact with foods or oils, so these bits of paper tend to end up in the trash.

Paper does biodegrade and can, in some cases be composted, so it's not TOTALLY useless when it hits the bottom of the recycling chain.  (Of course, since at this point it's often been turned into toilet paper, you may not WANT to compost it--and I don't think composting toilets have been widely accepted by local building codes...)

Plastic bags CAN be recycled, but since plastic bag recycling tends to glom together a variety of types of plastic, you end up with a mixed-plastic product, which is lower quality and may not be able to be further recycled.  There are some attempts to introduce biodegradable plastics, but no guarantees that your bag from BigBoxStore USA will be one of them.

Using sturdy bags made from a natural fiber is a good choice, as you'll be using the same bags over and over for quite a long time.  I usually use cotton fabric (reclaimed from old sheets/shirts/whatever, if possible), because if the bag tears up, I can still salvage most of the fabric for use in patchwork or potholders or other small household items.  I also like bags made of jute or hemp cord, since the cord can be reused once the bag reaches the end of its useful life.

Answer 13

I use plastic bags then when I get home i throw them all away. I never recycle.

Answer 14

Neither, cloth is best.

Answer 15

Paper is better

Answer 16

i worked near a landfill site where there were millions of plastic bags strewn across the trees and onto the adjacent properties....use only paper please

Answer 17

Paper, but it depends on what part of the environment you value more.

Paper needs to be originally harvested from forests and the logging of both plantation and native forests around the world for paper usage has a huge impact on biodiversity levels, water consumption and contamination, nutrient depletion and CO2 levels. It is biodegradable if composted or put in the ground and will break down within a year. It is recyclable, but only a limited number of times - around 7 - because each time you recycle it, the fibres become shorter and the quality of the paper becomes less eg. start with white photocopy paper, then cardboard boxes, then egg cartons etc.

Plastic is more toxic and depending on the plastic will take between 15 years to 1000 years to break down (plastic bags take 15, hard plastic bottles 500 - 1000 years). Plastic comes from oil which needs to be mined which contaminates the local environment and depletes a finite resource. And can only be recycled a few times, as you say.

Recycling both paper and plastic is very water and energy intensive and, while still being much better than throwing in the bin, has a negative environmental impact.

For all these reasons it is much better to use cloth, non toxic and reusable. But if I was choosing between paper and plastic, I would say paper.

Answer 18

paper is better. cloth bags are best. plastic bags are made from oil.

Answer 19

That is actually a very tough question to answer. Both have their setbacks. And paper is not necessarily better as some in this answer post have suggested. According to a news article http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18538484/

"To make all the bags we use each year, it takes 14 million trees for paper and 12 million barrels of oil for plastic. The production of paper bags creates 70 percent more air pollution than plastic, but plastic bags create four times the solid waste — enough to fill the Empire State Building two and a half times. And they can last up to a thousand years."

This article suggests if you live along the coast, pick paper (to reduce the beach litter), but if you're inland, plastic may be a better choice. Of course recycling is the best thing to do when finished. In modern landfills paper actually is preserved quite well and does not biodegrade at a rate much faster than plastic (has to do with daily burial of waste--no water, oxygen, light as needed for things to breakdown). I did read somewhere that it actually takes more engery to recycle paper than plastic as well.  

And of course, reducing your consumption of paper or plastic is the best choice of all! I like many of the bags at http://reusablebags.com/

Treehugger has a great article about this issue too. They also say energy consumption to create plastic bags is less, but remind us that they are detrimental to wildlife. The take home message is the same...reusable bags are the way to go.  http://www.treehugger.com/files/2005/01/...

Answer 20

Plastic is made from oil, takes way too long to decompse, and can be dangerous to children or any other living thing for that reason. Paper is made from trees, biodegradable, and it is less harmful to the environment. I reccommend paper if you don't have another type like cloth that you can use over and over again. However, the stores will want you to use plastic because it is a few cents cheaper for them than the paper bags.

Answer 21

Paper. It's Biodegradable. (Which means it's good for the environment.

Answer 22

biodegradable  plastic.   paper  takes  much  longer  to  desintegrate