I Got My Philosophy

So far, my mission has been fairly successful. Only once have I found myself shopping for groceries late at night without having brought my own bag. And I was with Brian, and we only used one new plastic bag. Is it bad that I am using him as an excuse? (I technically didn't pay for anything when we checked out...)

Here is some inspiration about the use of plastic versus paper:

Plastic bags were first introduced in 1977 and now account for 4 out 5 bags handed out at grocery stores. They are made with polyethylene, which is made from nonrenewable petroleum resources. For the stores using them they are extremely cheap containers, costing only a cent apiece, in comparison to paper bag products that run three to five cents each. Paper bags also use up more resources during production, transportation and handling because they are much bigger and heavier than plastic bags. However, in comparison to the 7-10 years a plastic bag takes to decompose in a landfill, the month it takes a paper bag to decompose doesn't seem like much! Also, as of 2000, more than 20% of paper bags got recycled, while 99% of plastic bags end up as litter in a landfill.

These facts conclude that plastic bags consume 40% less energy in production, and generate 80% less solid waste than paper bags. Not that either product is ideal, but unfortunately less than 1% of US shoppers use cloth/re-useable shopping bags. Time to step it up!

(My source for most of these facts is http://techalive.mtu.edu/meec/module14/title.htm.)