Trailwriter is correct. Want to make an actual impact? Ban bag distribution at the store level. Grocery stores in England, even as recently as the mid-80s, didn’t provide any bags — quite a shock to me as an American visitor buying groceries! But I quickly bought a carrier bag and brought it with me, every time.

From MSNBC: “— Paper bags generate 70 percent more air pollutants and 50 times more water pollutants than plastic bags.

— 2,000 plastic bags weigh 30 pounds, 2,000 paper bags weigh 280 pounds. The latter takes up a lot more landfill space.

— It takes 91 percent less energy to recycle a pound of plastic than it takes to recycle a pound of paper. It takes more than four times as much energy to manufacture a paper bag as it does to manufacture a plastic bag.”

The idea of swapping plastic for paper is a typical knee-jerk reaction that doesn’t come down on the green side of the equation.

Trailwriter is correct. Want to make an actual impact? Ban bag distribution at the store level. Grocery stores in England, even as recently as the mid-80s, didn’t provide any bags — quite a shock to me as an American visitor buying groceries! But I quickly bought a carrier bag and brought it with me, every time.

From MSNBC: “— Paper bags generate 70 percent more air pollutants and 50 times more water pollutants than plastic bags.

— 2,000 plastic bags weigh 30 pounds, 2,000 paper bags weigh 280 pounds. The latter takes up a lot more landfill space.

— It takes 91 percent less energy to recycle a pound of plastic than it takes to recycle a pound of paper. It takes more than four times as much energy to manufacture a paper bag as it does to manufacture a plastic bag.”

The idea of swapping plastic for paper is a typical knee-jerk reaction that doesn’t come down on the green side of the equation.