What is more environment-friendly: paper or plastic? Why?

Question

When you go grocery-shopping, do you prefer paper or plastic bags?

Answer 1

I prefer nylon. I always bring 2 nylon shopping bags when I do my groceries.  

Answer 2

yes paper destroys trees but many paper manufacturers are already planting tree farms to lessen their impact on the environment. and if you feel guilty you can volunteer in tree planting activities too.

Answer 3

Paper. I remember those times when Plastic is not yet invented and my Mom uses rattan basket for shopping. Fresh food are wrapped in banana leaves and old newspaper. Groceries and rice were placed on tough Manila paper bags. No garbage nor garbage trucks, everything was recycled e.g. compost.  

Answer 4

Neither, because if you use paper your still destroying trees and if you use plastic your polluting the earth. Plastic also does not go away so easy. Scientist say if left alone plastic can last forever. Bringing your own bag that is made out of cloth is the way to go if you want to be environmental friendly.

Answer 5

Plastic because it can be re-used for a very long time and can be recycled afterwards.. Paper breaks down easily most of the time.. It does decay easily because it is biodegradable but recycling and producing more of it because it easily breaks down uses more fuel and energy in the recycling and production process in addition to the trees that it kills...

Recycling is okay as long as its kept to a minimum because the energy and electricity it uses pollute and destroy the environment more..

Answer 6

plastic is more environment friendly-

paper used for bags are mostly not recycled paper because it is not durable

..then the manufacturing uses many chemicals processing and bleaching it and ends up polluting the water, the very source of our drinks..

..it uses trees and land areas which should have been used for agricultural crops..

..papers are indeed biodegradable thus ends up in the water ways submerged as silts, and with the chemicals used, would leached into the quality of water making it toxic, the plastics that floats,even if it has chemicals is far more lesser than the papers.

..the papers in their decomposing state also leach harmful chemicals to the soil and continuing in the ground water, source of our drinks, plastics don't..

..

what we need is to make laws that imposed that plastic bags should be sold at a high price so that consumers would not just dump them. China has made that ruling. Or maybe, just like the sin taxes imposed on non essential commodities, the government would derive more income for government expenses by having high taxes on them too.

I wonder why the government allowed the use of disposable styrofoam (expanded polysterene foam is the technical name) it is made of benzene which has been found to contaminate food or drinks that are cancer causing. And the chemical used to put air inside is destroying the ozone layer, the outermost part of the atmosphere that lessens the entry of UV (ultraviolet) rays which are the major causes of skin cancers, cataracts, decreases in dangerous level the agricultural produce and the level of production of marine life thus decreases fish yields.

plastics are recyclable, it is only so cheap that few give concern as to have it sent to recycling plants....

neglect of the environment is now sanctioned as one of the major sins

to atheist and God believers, it is a crime

if one considers killing a person a crime, what more on killing the environment man lives in?

add:

if plastic would be banned, is it also time that cement should also be banned, they also blocked the water ways when dumped irresponsibly

Answer 7

Plastic bags are probably the worst polluters that are available. All you need to do is to look at the rivers in Manila. The trees along the banks are 'decorated' with these polluters.

Paper bags are more eco-friendly.

I prefer plastic bags myself.

Plastic bags would lose their anti environment rating if, and only if, they were disposed of in the correct manner.

Answer 8

I would have answered "Bayong"!   But you might think I am a fanatic for the "Pera O Bayong" segment in Wowowee.   I think this "bayong" (bag made of buli leaves, or whatever organic tree it came from) is not only environment-friendly but economically better, since you only buy it once or twice, and it might even survive the buyer by a good many years.

But who the h**l goes to a shopping mall carrying a "bayong"?

And it is not among the choices, so what am I blabbering about?

Paper!   It's "simply a piece of paper" as the critics say of that unsigned treaty, which is again deviating from the subject.  We can so easily burn it!  The paper bag, I mean.

Answer 9

I prefer paper bags for after using them, they can be used as fertilizers.

Answer 10

I use my jute bag over and over and over and over. Paper is better than plastic of course. If I can't help but use plastic, I reuse the plastic bag more than twice.

Answer 11

i always get plastic

Answer 12

paper...duh. it can be recycled and breaks down in landfills.

Answer 13

I read about it(i dunno if it was on here or somewhere else) that more trees would be sacrificed for using paper for grocery shopping. The problem with plastic is the production process & not proper disposal. a single plastic bag I believe takes 100 years to totally decompose.

So, I use a grocery bag. The wal mart bag. I try to be as environment friendly as possible :)

Answer 14

nothing.. but paper does less harm..

Answer 15

i always go for plastic. has many other uses at home. but really paper is more environment-friendly.

Answer 16

I prefer plastic myself, but paper is more eco-friendly. It takes a lot longer to break down plastic.