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Paper, Plastic or Neither - Or All Three?

"Paper or plastic, ma'am?" This question arises every time I visit the checkout, and I used to go strictly for paper. But then I started thinking about how I could best utilize the bags once the groceries were home safely, and now my answer is, well, it depends.....

I use paper bags to hold the old newspapers until I can drop them off for recycling (we don't have curb-side recycling here - of anything). I hope that the paper bags can be recycled along with the papers, at least for some other purpose. I also use brown paper bags as wrapping when I have to send a package - and I'll use them for Christmas wrapping this year. When I get paper bags without a store logo, I save them for my business and stamp them with my own logo.

I often opt for plastic bags too, although I probably don't recycle them as effectively as the paper. Plastic bags go on walks with the dogs to collect any 'deposits'. Rather than buying trash bags for the bins around the house, I use grocery bags. Plastic bags are easier to carry on my bike or when I walk to return bottles. I've also used them in a pinch to provide a second 'skin' around food going in the freezer. At least one local store offers money back if you reuse your bags!

Sometimes the answer is 'neither'. This summer our local store started selling a cloth-like reusable bag. I haven't completely gotten into the habit of carrying my reusable bag(s) with me when I go shopping - they need to go straight back into the vehicle when the groceries are put away. But even if I forget, larger items, like bottles of rolls of toilet paper or jugs of vinegar don't need a bag, although it takes a bit of work to keep the lads at the checkout from using as many sacks as possible.

So I'm trying to do my bit, but which of the three options is REALLY the best?

Paper comes from a renewable source (potentially, but not guaranteed) and is easily degraded. But what about the processes to create the bag and the inks used for store logos?

Plastics can now be made with organic material rather than petroleum, and they will degrade much more quickly. But how do you know the bag in your hand is made from soy, and there are still those dyes and processes to worry about.

My reusable bag is great (when I remember it) but it's bright green (dye again) and doesn't look like it's made out of wood fiber or cotton - is it plastic or something else? And although it is sturdy now, what will happen when it wears out - how will it decompose?

Since there doesn't seem to be one 'right' answer, I chose the bag I can get the most millage out of before it heads to the landfill. I can get one, sometimes two or three usages out of a bag, whether it is paper or plastic, and that has got be be better than sticking with one option and having most of them laying around unused or just being tossed out. We will never eliminate the need for something to carry our goods home in, but I can keep them from going to the landfill underutilized...

Learn more about this author, Pat Gray.
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