I wonder how much oil we waste by using plastic bags

[TheFarseer]

instead of paper at the grocery store. Enough to worry about is my guess. Any thoughts anyone?

[Tweed]

1. I only use paper and go to the check-out lines with REAL cashiers

[vpigrad]

16. Real cashiers are good!

Using one of those piece of crap self-checkout machines reminds me too much of voting on one of the repuke Diebold pieces of crap.

[Rabrrrrrr]

2. Millions of gallons, my friend.

It's truly sickening. Sickening beyond disgust. Not only are they wasteful and polluting to make, they're wasteful and polluting to throw away.

Plastic bags piss me off.

So do straws, and other things made of plastic that can't be recycled.

This country is fucking addicted to oil and unless we end that addiction, the world is going to be fucked.

[andyhappy]

4. how should I bring my sandwich to work?

in a way that is not wasteful.

I normally use a plastic sandwich bag...is there something else I can do.

[Dave Reynolds]

7. Wax paper. nt

[Dogmudgeon]

9. Get a sandwich box

They're also made out of plastic, but you wash and re-use them.

--p!

[andyhappy]

15. I never even thought

about all those plastic bags that I use for lunch!

thanks for the tip!

[FloridaPat]

10. The grocery stores sell little sandwich containers. Just wash and reuse.

[Dogmudgeon]

8. They're not as polluting as you think (and TDP)

Plastic bags also biodegrade quickly -- most under a year in most landfills. They're not completely benign, but since most people see them every time they throw someting away, they are highly visible.

The real pollution comes from burning. Combustion creates huge amounts of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) which are intense pollutants that cause birth defects and cancer.

A workable 2-for-1 solution might be to implement TDP, or thermal depolymerization, to recycle solid waste. It's a relatively low-tech process where plastics and other organic materials are turned into a light crude oil. There is enough solid waste generated that TDP could take a significant bite out of our energy importation requirements. That would leave only the combustion pollutant problem to solve.

--p!

[RobertSeattle]

3. Could also you reusable bags

If you are only get a bag or two worth:

[tanyev]

5. What if we take those bags back to the store

and put them in the recycle container? I thought paper bags were worse because of the tree killing.

[gristy]

6. Not very much at all, as long as you recycle by collecting

them and taking them back to the store...

[Atman]

11. Paper isn't made by fairies, you know

Paper is also a fuel hog. In fact, when it gets down to actual resources used, I believe you'll find a paper uses just as much, if not more, oil to produce than a plastic one. Not to mention to other nasty chemicals that go into paper production.

The key isn't choosing one over the other. The key is choosing neither, and bringing in boxes or totes you already own and re-use, and to consider the overall impact of one vs. the other (as with the raccoon example below, for instance).

===

<snip>

Plastic bags "end up in landfills, or on roadsides, or in lakes and streams, where they prove quite a hazard to wildlife, who choke on the bags," says Anna Peterson, co-chair of the Sustainable Consumption Committee of the Sierra Club, and a professor of environmental ethics at the University of Florida.

"The bags are like balloons," she explains. "Especially if there are crumbs in there. A raccoon might smell peanut butter and swallow the bag along with the crumbs."

But plastic-bag manufacturers and garbage experts say that in the long run, plastic wins over paper.

"Paper bags are easier to recycle, but they weigh 10 times as much," says Robert Bateman of Roplast Industries, a bag manufacturer. "They use more energy and cause more waste in the process of manufacturing."

A paper bag eats up almost three times as much energy in the manufacturing process, says Bateman, who's also a past president of the Plastic Bag Association.

<snip>

Paper or Plastic? What is the Environmentally Correct Choice?

[amazona]

12. Please don't use paper at the grocery store

Paper bags are not made from recycled paper, to be strong enough, they are made from virgin stock.

We have enough "pine tree desert" in this nation as it is. Don't encourage more habitat to be destroyed and replaced by pine trees and paper mills.

Bring your own bag, such as a string bag, or bring and re-use your plastic bag several times.

The conservation movement is a breeding ground of communists
and other subversives. We intend to clean them out,
even if it means rounding up every birdwatcher in the country.
--John Mitchell, US Attorney General 1969-72

[ChemEng]

13. Plastic is much cheaper to produce than paper,

icluding the energy content of the plastic itself.

[NNadir]

14. In some sense, the extent to which oil is used to make plastic

represents sequestering of carbon. When push comes to shove, this kind of "waste" of oil is less noxious than injecting oil waste (including of course carbon dioxide) into the air.

The task before us is not how to worry about maximizing the fuel potential of petroleum (or other fossil fuels) to provide energy. The task is to replace fossil fuels.

Fossil fuels are unacceptably dangerous. If you don't believe me, look in the direction of the world's glaciers.

[Township75]

17. The amount of petroluem used to produce plastics is less than 5%.

.

[Gregorian]

18. Or leaving lights on. Or hot water heater pilot lights.

Pilot lights that are turned up higher than they need to be. Or a multiplicity of things. Like changing tires before they are worn out. Using products that are unfriendly. Driving instead of riding a bike. Or using energy intensive disposable spray cans. Or just go to the dump and look around. I've spent my entire life in amazement. I recently found a perfectly good lawnmower at the dump, that only needed a filling of gasoline. Frivolous vacations. Or having children who will eventually use energy. It goes on ad infinitem. (The having kids thing is really unfair. I can't claim that that is an option. It's really a god given right.) But in this modern society, the truth is- we are all polluting. And the bottom line is, unless we live like natives, we are killing the planet IN THESE NUMBERS.

[mopinko]

19. one more reason to like costco

they don't have bags. they stack up the boxes for you to re-use. great store.