Using plastic shopping bags is bad for the environment......?

Question

But wouldn't it be an inconvience? I mean going to a store and hand the cashier burlap bags to be filled? I mean i'm a cashier, and the plastic bags are a pain in the rearend. But some customers buy over 100$ of things at a time * i work in a grocery store*.... how can they make things easier?

Answer 1

Ok... here's the pros and cons of all these types of bags...

Paper bags are bad because you have to cut down lots of trees to make them.  If they are recycled, however, it lessens the environmental impact a little.  If the paper company plants new trees in place of the ones they cut (some do, some don't) then it lessens the impact even more.  Using paper bags made of recycled paper is even better.

Plastic bags are bad because of the chemicals used to make plastic and the waste that process produces.  Also, plastic bags in landfills are often deadly to animals that wander in and get trapped and then suffocate.  It takes hundreds of years for plastic to biodegrade in landfills, and some types of plastic never degrade.  Recycling the bags lessens the impact a little.  Using plastic bags made of recycled plastic is better.

Canvas bags are better because they can be used over and over again.  However, if the material is dyed, bleached, or highly processed with chemicals, those processes pollute.  Also, if the cotton used to make the material is grown organically (without chemicals) then it's better for the environment.

Best are canvas bags made of industrial hemp fiber.  It takes no chemicals to grow the hemp, it replenishes the nutrients in the soil, it grows quickly and requires little or no chemical processing to turn it into fabric.  Hemp fabric, by the way, is much more durable than cotton or any other fabric and therefore lasts a very long time.  All around a very low impact on the environment.  Hemp can also be used to make over 2,000 other products including food, building materials, paper and even non-polluting fuel for cars.

As for their uses at a grocery store, you can usually get more into a good sized, sturdy canvas bag than you can get into a paper or plastic grocery bag if you know how to pack them.  Also, the handles tend to be wider and therefore less painful to carry.  I find them easier than paper or plastic, but even if they're not, which is more important... easier grocery bagging or a healthy environment?  I'd vote for the environment any day.

Answer 2

Well the truth is plastic bags are made from petroleum. Paper bags are made from trees. Cloth bags are a pain but do help the environment. As an environmental geosciences major and a bagger at a local grocery store I feel that stores need to offer some kind of reason to use cloth bags. Like a few extra fuel perks points or something. I know these days people will kill for those. I honestly hate bagging when people bring in those cloth bags, but i do feel better knowing the environment will be helped a bit. Most stores offer a place to recycle plastic bags. However, I'm not so sure how environmentally friendly the recycling process is.

Answer 3

How hard is it to put the things in a burlap or canvas bag?? A bag is a bag.

Answer 4

There are some things we will have to do if we want Earth to recover.  I have purchased several "recycled" bags (that resemble canvas) for a dollar each and will just keep them by my shopping list.  If I shop more than the bags can hold... it can go into a plastic or paper bag (or I can add to my recycled bags).  The recycled/reusable bags are easier to handle for me ... and I feel good about doing the right thing for our environment.  We drive a Prias and are averaging 50 mpg!  I recycle my aluminum, glass, plastic & paper religiously.... my city provides us with 3 cans... trash, recycle products & "green" waste (yard clippings, etc).

As a parent, I want the future to be good for my kids... and we all have to do our part.  A little inconvience is nothing if it means the landfills will be less encumbered and the air cleaner.

Answer 5

everything is bad for the environment

cut down all the trees for paper bags, and isn't that bad for the environment.

nobody is going to use cloth bags over and over