When Did Plastic Bags Go Evil?
by Earth Day 2009 is here and no rallying cry for better management of the planet is louder than the one to stop the use of disposable plastic bags and bottles.
Before Plastic Bags
Products bought in stores, delis and meat markets used to be wrapped in yesterday’s newspaper or plain brown bag wrap. The environmentalists cried over the death of the trees that produced the paper pulp that became paper bags not to mention the little dweeby bug-owl that nobody has ever seen before, and then only in a black & white handbill image that made it look sad staring out of a knothole in some dead pine tree. They said these owls would become extinct in our lifetime as a result. The switch to plastic bags was deemed an eco-friendly move. So, -what happened?
Paper is Bio-Degradable and Therefore, Better?
I hear this excuse all the time and let me identify some problems with this fallacy. True, paper will decompose and become mulch over time but you would not want a lot of this in your garden any more than you’d want bagfuls chipped houseboards. Paper cellulose is not really a good fertilizer until it has completely broken-down, -which can take several years.
Buried in landfills where there is little oxygen (because it is buried) and very little movement in the water table, paper survives for decades. Landfills are placed exactly where they are because of these factors, little to no water-movement. This prevents any leachate from contaminating streams, lakes and other potable ground water.
It was a common practice decades ago for disposing of daily newspapers to roll them tightly and bind with a string or cord before burial in the landfill. This action actually preserves the paper and some of the best excavated newsprint papers have come from converted landfills going back into the 60s, 50s and even earlier. Have you ever seen those ads where you can buy a framed front-page newspaper from your hometown from the day you were born? Usually in fair-to-good condition? Yes, -those are reclaimed-from-a-landfill newspapers that someone salvaged (possibly by the hundreds or thousands for any particular day and any particular town or city) and found a very entrepreneurial way to profit from them.
The Switch to Plastic Bags, Bottles & Plastic Packaging
They use less material than cardboard boxes and bag combinations so it conserves disposable volume. Less mass to truck means saving over-the-road costs, fuel, and less space required for inventory. Reduced and minimized packing costs are an effective inducement for having switched to plastic bags, bottles and containers.
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Post CommentDA Cournean
On April 22, 2009 at 2:50 pm
Well researched! I know they recycle plastic bags in my area, but not sure where they go or how used.
Tusaani
On April 22, 2009 at 6:06 pm
Great synopsis. I live in Canada and I hear that a lot of the plastic in my country just gets shipped off to China where they make new products which are shipped back to our country. Just imagine all the gas!
Karen Gross
On April 22, 2009 at 6:39 pm
I too hail from Canada (Hello neighbour, Tusaani!). I have heard of plastic bags from Safeway that just pile up in storage facilities forever.
Our generation has probably added more toxins and waste to the earth than did the hundreds of generations before us. Unless we have some extreme diasater of Biblical proportions, we are not likely to give up our plastic lifestyle.
On the prairies of Canada, we have very few natural hills on which our children can toboggan in the winter. Many towns have recycled used landfill sites as the Prairie equivalent to hills, so our children can benefit from our ecologically evil lifestyle.
Mr Ghaz
On April 22, 2009 at 10:31 pm
Excellent! That was great and well presented article..very informative too..I LOV it..well done and keep it up..thnx for sharing
Juhls
On April 22, 2009 at 10:55 pm
Great exposure to some of the conundrums of modern life. I think a key thing about being more environmentally conscious is reducing consumption of things all together. To reuse and repurpose things as best we can. And to minimize the amount of packaging and such in things we must buy.
And, I agree it is ironic that so many stores are know selling this “green” reusable bags. Why do they need to produce special bags when most people probably have several reusable bags at home they can already use. Everything, even recycling or producing products out of recycled materials, takes energy so reducing the need for more stuff and reducing production across the board is a key part of truly being more environmentally sound.
Sakuragi
On April 23, 2009 at 2:56 am
I agree. I’ve always believed that change should start with ourselves. Great article.
Lauren Axelrod
On April 25, 2009 at 5:12 pm
Excellent info. Sometimes I bring cloth bags when I go shopping.
Becca Fields
On October 26, 2010 at 11:00 am
Thank you for the article. Interesting read. I wish the folks out there who make the decisions wether to use plastic or paper would also keep in mind the effects not only on the planet but our health.