Savvy Vegetarian Blog

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Sat, 15 Sep 2007

Paper Or Plastic - Which Is Better For The Environment?

According to the 9.9.07 Earth Talk newsletter from E-Magazine, neither paper nor plastic is environmentally friendly.

As the Earth Talk article points out: "... to the non-profit Institute for Lifecycle Environmental Assessment, 'paper versus plastic?' is not the question we should be asking ourselves, since the answer is really 'neither.' After all, energy and waste issues aside, the manufacture of paper bags brings down some 14 million trees yearly to meet U.S. demand alone, while at the same time plastic bags use up some 12 million barrels of oil each year."

"The group urges consumers to 'just say no' to both options and instead bring their own re-usable canvas bags, backpacks, crates or boxes to haul away the groceries. Some supermarkets, such as the Albertson’s and Wild Oats chains, even offer a small discount (around five cents) to those who do so. Another benefit of bringing your own, of course, is setting a good example so that other shoppers might do the same."

After reading the Earth Talk article, I realize that I've been practicing environmental truth avoidance (ETA), and not stepping up to the daily paper-plastic-challenge.

Bags are big, but so are electronics, cars, furniture, housing, packaging - all of which use plastic-and-or-paper. Then there's all the paper used in schools and business, baby diapers, toilet paper and tissue, plastic bottles, etc - all of which end up in the trash about five minutes after we use them.

The truth which I've been avoiding is that we are a disposible society addicted to convenience. Everything is made to be thrown away, and the environment is choking on our garbage. I'd guess that a very tiny percentage of green consumers actually generate zero waste. Come to think of it -'green consumer' is probably an oxymoron.

I'm not trying to guilt anybody - Goddess Forbid! I'm not ready to live naked in a cave and forage for roots and berries.

Of course it's a good thing to bring your own containers and bags to the grocery store. And if stores charged the true environmental cost for every bag they gave out, that would cut down on bags right smart quick! It would be even better if stores didn't offer those fiendishly convenient bags at the checkout counter, and sold nothing in packages.

And wouldn't it be lovely if cars were made to last a lifetime, or two or three? Likewise clothing, electronics, houses - all made sustainably from natural non-toxic materials. Amazing, if everybody drank tap water from pottery made by the guy down the street. And we didn't have advertising to tell us what we want and need. How fantastic to be so highly evolved that you didn't need to write anything down to remember it, and knew everything without reading books, newspapers, and magazines! And we all cooked our vegetarian food from scratch. And shared and played nice with the other kids.

Living like that isn't just a nice dream. This is the world we can have, if we want it. Ditching the bags is a place to start.