During her weekly trips to the grocery store, Girlawhirl carries her coupons, tries to stick to her list, and only allows herself one – okay maybe two – junk food items. She usually makes it through the throng of Saturday morning shoppers without a hitch until she's stopped in her tracks when she hits the checkout. Who would have thought that three little words could evoke such uncertainty, but Girlawhirl has no idea what the right answer is to the question of the moment: Paper or plastic?
There's a lot of information that compares the energy expenditures of creating and recycling both types of bags, and Girlawhirl has read arguments with pros and cons for each. Paper bags use a lot of trees and resources to make, and also to recycle. But if Girlawhirl had a compost pile, she could throw used bags in there and they would decompose naturally. Or, if she had a garden, she could use bags as weed barriers.
Plastic comes from oil, so it's considered a petroleum product and is actually a byproduct of the oil refining process. Plastic bags seem to take less energy and resources than paper to make, and they are easily recycled – again and again – into other plastic products.
But the problem with both plastic and paper bags are when they're just thrown away instead of recycled. Landfills are airtight, so there isn't a lot of decomposition going on in there, which means a paper bag in a landfill can last for more than 20 years.
On the other hand, if a plastic bag makes it to a landfill, it will stay there forever, because plastic can't decompose. That makes Girlawhirl cringe to think of all those yogurt containers she just threw away during her pre-recycling lifetime. 
So, where does that leave Girlawhirl when she's at the checkout counter? These days, she's going with plastic, because she can recycle it in her city. But if she lived somewhere where she could compost a paper bag, that might be right for her as well. Of course, what she really should be doing is carrying her own cloth bags to the grocery store and eliminating the question all together.
Girlawhirl Giveaway! A cloth grocery bag and a copy of Plenty Magazine are part of this week's Girlawhirl Giveaway! You're already registered if you've signed up once and have a girlawhirl login. Not registered? sign up.
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| Apr 5, 2007: | Girlawhirl finds some help with plastic bag recycling. read full entry |