Paper, Plastic or Reusable?

SAGE (Sound Advice for a Green Earth) is a project by advanced students in Earth Systems and other programs to answer sustainability questions.

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Q: I&#;ve heard that reusable shopping bags can be less sustainable than plastic shopping bags. Is this true? Which shopping bags are most sustainable: reusable, plastic or paper bags?

Asked by Connie McNair, Medford, Ore.

The Essential Answer

A trip to the grocery store entails a multitude of decisions. Many of us are drawn to discount prices; claims of health benefits; bright, sexy packaging &#; and, recently, environmental considerations. But the decisions don&#;t end with the products themselves. Those of us striving to be green want to make sure we&#;re using the most eco-friendly carrier. Thus, the question: paper, plastic or reusable cloth bags?

The plastic bag has a bad reputation. According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency, Americans go through hundreds of billions of these each year. The result has been called a &#;modern menace,&#; with stray bags gathering in the streets, the ocean and landfills, where they endanger wildlife and never biodegrade. They can be recycled but usually aren&#;t.

Paper bags are biodegradable and easy to recycle or compost. But producing them in quantity requires a lot of water, fuel and cut-down trees. And they usually aren&#;t made from recycled material, because new paper has longer, stronger fibers. Cloth bags are typically made from cotton, a particularly pesticide-intensive and water-guzzling crop. Reusable bags made from nonwoven polypropylene plastic are also common, and they&#;re actually less carbon-intensive to produce.

Reputation aside, single-use plastic bags have the smallest carbon footprint, at least in terms of single-bag production. But that&#;s only the beginning. How we use and dispose of bags matters even more.

Two of the most important considerations for the eco footprint of a bag (or any other item) are whether we reuse it and, if so, how many times. An exhaustive Environment Agency (U.K.) report from found that paper bags must be reused at least three times to negate their higher climate-warming potential (compared with that of plastic bags). A cotton bag would have to be reused 131 times to break even with a plastic bag, in terms of the climate impact of producing each bag. Of course, plastics can be reused as well &#; they just don&#;t look as trendy.

But the answer isn&#;t quite as complicated as these details might make it seem. Which bag is the most &#;sustainable&#;? It really depends on how many times you&#;re going to use it and, especially with plastic, how carefully you dispose of it once its useful life is over. Use the bags that you&#;ll reuse the most &#; and check out previous SAGE answers at stanfordmag.org for advice on filling them with food that&#;s as gentle on the environment as the carriers you&#;ve chosen.

The Nitty Gritty

Let&#;s dish the dirt on each type of bag individually &#; then we can compare.

Paper

According to the previously cited U.K. study, it takes three reuses of a paper bag to neutralize its environmental impact, relative to plastic. A bag&#;s impact is more than just its associated carbon emissions: Manufacturing a paper bag requires about four times as much water as a plastic bag. Additionally, the fertilizers and other chemicals used in tree farming and paper manufacturing contribute to acid rain and eutrophication of waterways at higher rates.

Paper may not be the first choice for your reusable grocery bag, since it tears easily and doesn&#;t hold up in the rain. However, paper bags can be repurposed once they&#;ve been carted home &#; for bagging lunches; making arts and crafts; or collecting compost, trash or recyclables.

In terms of disposal, paper bags are better than their plastic counterparts. Paper is compostable. If you have access to composting, just tear it up and toss it in. Or if, like me, you&#;ve grown pots of mold in your kitchen too many times and are now a little compost-shy, recycling is the next best option. As long as they&#;re not overly contaminated with food, paper shopping bags can go in any municipal recycling bin.

Plastic

The standard grocery store plastic bag is made from high-density polyethylene (HDPE). Studies agree that plastic bags are by far the least costly (i.e., carry the smallest ecological footprint) to produce. Still, there is no way around the fact that plastic is derived from petroleum. Petroleum is a finite resource, and as it becomes increasingly limited, obtaining it becomes increasingly damaging to the environment.

Recycling plastic bags can be difficult. They often fly out of bins or cling to machinery. For these reasons, many cities do not accept them in the municipal recycling stream. Some large grocery stores offer plastic bag recycling options on site (find a recycling center near you). But unlike metal or glass, plastic can be reincarnated a limited number of times before it is too costly to revive.

Many people do reuse plastic bags. And this lowers their carbon footprint &#; but only to a point. Most plastic shopping bags are fated to become waste-bin liners, or dog pooper-scoopers. They do an excellent job fulfilling these duties &#; but when done, they&#;re off to the landfill. Plastic bags simply don&#;t have the reusable potential of cloth or even paper bags.

Reusable cotton or polypropylene

Reusable bags may be made from many different materials (hemp fiber, for instance, is especially good for people who fancy themselves as hip), but the two most common types are cotton and non-woven polypropylene (PP), a more durable type of plastic. Even these chic reusable bags have caught flak from some environmentalists. Are they really better than plastic bags? The answer depends on how faithfully you reuse them. As mentioned in our essential answer, above, an average cotton shopping bag would need to be reused 131 times to account for its higher impact on the production side. So if you&#;re going to use this bag for the next five years, have at it.

Non-woven PP, on the other hand, is less costly than cotton. These bags need to be reused only 11 times to break even with the conventional plastic (according to the same U.K. study). Remember &#; not all bags are created equal! If you do opt for a reusable, be sure to consider the material, its origins and how much you will reuse the bag. Of course, the best option is to use a tote you already have (or buy one secondhand).

In the end, your actions will make the greatest difference &#; not the bag itself. The most sustainable choice is one that&#;s sustainable for you. What are your preferences? Which considerations, environmental or otherwise, are most important to you? And which lifestyle changes will you make for the long-term?

Take these questions as food for thought the next time you&#;re on your way to the grocery store.

Claire Thompson, &#;16, plans to receive her MA in Earth Systems in . Edited by Dylan Anslow, &#;16, MS &#;17.

It&#;s a well-known fact that customers are becoming more conscious of their environmental impact and are demanding more and more transparency on the sustainability practices of large companies. This is why implementing eco-friendly practices can make your brand stand out from the rest! One such practice that&#;s easily implemented is switching from single-use plastic bags to paper bags.

Here are our top 3 reasons why you should start using it for your business:

Eco-Friendly

Products Are

Trendy

The company is the world’s best paper shopping bag manufacturers supplier. We are your one-stop shop for all needs. Our staff are highly-specialized and will help you find the product you need.

The first reason you should consider paper bags for your business is that they&#;re trendy! Consumers all around the world are actively looking for ways to reduce their environmental impact, so they&#;re choosing to shop at places that share the same values. From using energy-efficient home appliances to boycotting single-use plastics, customers are choosing products that are better for the environment thanks to the easy availability of climate-change information.

Customers feel special when they get to leave with a fancy custom paper bag with a branded pattern. While these bags are trendy, they&#;re also practical because they come in many shapes, sizes, and strengths to suit the need of any product. The gusseted sides and flat bottoms create a lot of space inside to hold many items. It&#;s no surprise that businesses of all sizes are making the switch!

Available in many sizes, shapes, colours, and strength so that you can find the perfect bag for your products. For lighter items like jewellery or common stationary, a small lightweight bag would be perfect, but for heavier household items such as sheets or flatware, a large heavyweight bag is the way to go! Whatever your needs, whether they&#;re to be used for retail at boutiques or markets or for gifting, there is a paper bag to match!

Marketing

& Branding

Opportunities

Offer a unique marketing opportunity. With creative branding and your company logos printed on the bags, you can attract the attention of other shoppers in the centre. Curiosity will encourage them to search for your stall or shop to browse. These fancy, trendy bags will help you stand out from your competitors and help reinforce and expand your brand awareness and encourage customers to return for a repeat experience.

The only limits to the printed designs of your bags is your creativity! If you can design it, it can be printed! Unique designs help to cement your brand in the minds of your customers and keep them excited for more. With more and more companies providing this service, personalised paper bags have never been more affordable!

You can create unique designs for your bags to hand out at events, or when the holidays roll around! This will keep your customers coming back time and time again, both for your products and to see what kind of exciting packaging you have this time!

Give you a unique opportunity to communicate your brand story to your customers. Unleash your creativity with graphics, brand colours, and text elements to share the thing that makes your company unique, such as your mission statement, how the company was founded, what steps you&#;re taking to give back to the environment and community, or what makes your product unique. The sky&#;s the limit!

Prove your company&#;s commitment to sustainability. Customers have been proven to prefer shopping with businesses who have solid processes in place to replace plastic packaging with more eco-friendly choices, such as paper void fill instead of bubble-wrap, or paper bags instead of plastic ones. Not only do this proves your dedication to making eco-friendly choices, but custom ones will also increase the perceived value of your products. The common understanding is that customised bags come exclusively from high-end or large corporate shops and boutiques. By getting custom bags created for your business, the quality is immediately perceived to be better than with plain bags.

Eco-friendly

Manufacturing process

Eco-friendly and non-toxic, brown paper bags are made from renewable resources. Because these bags can be easily broken down in the environment or recycled multiple times, they will not negatively impact the environment as much as the manufacture and disposal of single-use plastics. Paper requires a lot less harmful chemicals and energy to be manufactured and recycled because of the simple process. 

Kraft paper is a robust paper that, due to the manufacturing process, is much stronger than regular paper. This process often uses woodchips and other wood waste to create the paper, which are steamed and pulped before being spread to dry for cutting, transport and assembly into a variety of eco-friendly alternative to single-use plastic.

Not only is the end product 100% recyclable, but manufacturing plants are also equipped to reuse water and chemicals wherever possible which makes the whole process far more eco-friendly than those of single-use plastics.

Kraft paper does not get bleached. Bleaching is what causes paper to lose strength, so the absence of bleaching is what makes kraft paper biodegradable, recyclable, and compostable, while also remaining strong enough to be used for bags. The lack of bleaching also allows the kraft paper material to speak for itself, with a rough, authentic finish that looks and feels beautiful.

As an eco-friendly solution, the manufacture and use of kraft paper bags has a significantly smaller impact on the environment than plastics. The process is well-curated to produce an eco-friendly material without contributing significantly to environmental pollution, and now this material is widely accessible, it&#;s easier than ever for individuals and businesses of all sizes to ditch the single-use plastics.

They are the most cost-effective way to get custom bags printed for your company both due to high demand and low cost-manufacturing. It&#;s never been easier to have custom bags just for you!

Conclusion:

NEON eCommerce Packaging offers a wide range of shopping bags so that we can help you choose the perfect one for your business. We provide the best quality packaging in Australia by working hard to ensure our products are made of sturdy materials. If you have any packaging related questions, or any enquiries about custom packaging, don&#;t hesitate to contact us! We would love to help!

If you are looking for more details, kindly visit printed nonwoven bags.