Which Grocery Shopping Bag Should You Choose If You Want To Go Green?

Most of us are trying our best to make sure we do not needlessly damage the environment. One of the ways we can try to achieve this is by reusing our grocery bags and, wherever possible, using those that have a short life cycle or at the very least won't cause any real pollution or other dangers if disposed of at a landfill site. The reality is that entire species of bird and marine life are starting to edge close to endangered status due to the fact that they get tangled in plastic bags and die. This is as good a reason as any to stop using these bags! But which bags really are the best? Let's take a look at the life cycle of some of the most commonly used grocery bags.

The Plastic Bag

The plastic bag is seen as the big Bogey Man of carrying utensils. This is due to the fact that we believe them to take thousands of years to decompose and that they cause the death of various animals. While this is undeniably true, it also seems as if they are actually much greener to create and dispose of than other types of bags. It seems now, however, that the issue is not that we use these bags, but rather that we do not reuse them, even if we can.

"It is estimated that only one percent of plastic bags are recycled worldwide[10]After primary use however, polyethylene bags can be recycled in numerous ways. Even without reprocessing, plastic grocery bags can be re-used as garbage bags or shopping bags. Otherwise, the polyethylene can be reprocessed and create new plastic bags, or other goods such as clothing and containers."

The Paper Bag

More and more people believe that the better bag, therefore, has to be the paper bag. However, the reality is that paper causes mass deforestation, and that a huge range of energy is needed in terms actually harvesting these trees. Indeed, paper bags are not all that green, and they also don't last very long. A paper bag can usually not be reused because they tear and rip very easily. Indeed, it now seems that the environmental impact of a paper bag is actually far worse than that of a plastic bag.

"A paper bag has a more adverse impact than a plastic bag for most of the environmental issues considered. Areas where paper bags score particularly badly include water consumption, atmospheric acidification (which can have effects on human health, sensitive ecosystems, forest decline and acidification of lakes) and eutrophication of water bodies (which can lead to growth of algae and depletion of oxygen)."

The Cloth or Fabric Bag

This leaves us with the fabric or cloth bag. The cloth bag is really seen as eco-friendly. It is often made out of materials such as bamboo or hemp, which is seen as green and clean. Not just that, manufacturers often use Fair Trade contracts in order to make these bags. However, interestingly enough, the so called eco bags are actually incredibly damaging to the environment.

"The study reports that a canvas bag is expected to last for 52 trips. With that as a reference, a cotton/cloth canvas bag user does over twice the damage to the environment that a plastic bag using grocery shopper who throws away every plastic bag they get immediately after each shopping trip."

This means, surprisingly enough, that the most eco-friendly bag is actually the hated plastic bag. The same bag that we have been told to avoid for years. However, we should also reuse it and dispose of it properly in order to be truly green.

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