Plastic or Paper?

In the 1960s, a Swedish engineer by the name of Sten Gustaf Thulin had a dream, and that dream was to save the planet. He created plastic bags as a substitute for paper bags with the intention that they be reused, however, single-use plastic quickly became the norm. Humanity has developed a culture dependent on plastic, especially plastic bags. As more people are becoming conscious of their plastic usage, many argue that reusable and paper bags should replace plastic ones. However, these paper and cloth bags also contaminate the environment and take high amounts of energy to manufacture.

Plastic bags are convenient, but one cannot overlook the harm they do to the environment. Some argue that plastic bags create large amounts of trash. Chelsea Rochman, a professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Toronto, estimates that “more than 650 kg of plastic litter enter Lake Ontario from the Don River annually.” While plastic bags are handy, they are visible garbage that dirty cities and end up in oceans. In fact, the Ocean Conservancy's 2019 cleanup found 964,541 plastic bags in the sea. If plastic bags disappeared, almost one million pieces of trash would be gone from the ocean annually. Clearly, plastic creates an excess of garbage, but more problems arise as they break down. Instead of biodegrading, plastic disintegrates into microscopic pieces called microplastics. This process takes hundreds of years and results in the leaking of pollutants. Typically, people will consume up to 50,000 “consume between 39,000 to 52,000” of these microplastics annually according to Sarah Gibbens, writer for National Geographic. Many plastics absorb chemicals like lead, cadmium, and mercury and microplastics may do the same. The US Library of Medicine Center states that ingesting these chemicals can result in cancer, birth defects, and developmental issues. Though microplastics are a recent discovery, it is not a stretch to assume that they are dangerous. Even though plastic bags are easier to make than reusable ones, their impact on Earth lasts many generations and harms not only the environment but people as well. After examining how plastic affects Earth , it seems logical to consider alternatives. However, paper or cotton bags are not much better.

Paper and reusable bags negatively impact the Earth like plastic does, but they do it in different ways. Contrary to popular belief, plastic bags take less energy to make than reusable and paper bags. As environmental writer Mark Gunther notes, “one reusable bag has the carbon footprint of 13 disposable bags that are used just once.” Evidently, more energy is needed to create reusable bags, and they need to be utilized repeatedly to ensure compensation for their manufacturing. Additionally, it seems that they require more materials for production. Olivia Katz, a sustainability-focused strategy consultant, writes, “[While] 12 million barrels of oil are required to produce 100 billion plastic bags annually in the US, 35 million trees are cut down to produce 25 billion papers.” Although paper is made from renewable resources, the trees needed per paper makes it more costly than plastic. Them being easy to recycle makes paper and reusable bags appealing because of its impact on the environment. However, the creation process seems to diminish those positives. To add on, there is more paper waste than plastic. According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency, “in 2017, paper and paperboard materials comprised the largest component of municipal solid waste.” It is clear that replacing plastic bags with paper ones will not solve the problem, instead, it creates another issue. Even if reusable bags are used consistently, it is not very efficient as reusable bags need to be washed regularly in warm water to prevent bacteria like E-coli from growing. Not only do reusable bags take more energy to make, but they need to be washed, further increasing their carbon footprint. Switching to reusable bags will decrease the amount of bags in landfills, however, it won't make a notable difference for global warming.

Plastic and reusable bags come with pitfalls that make neither a desirable choice. Since plastic bags take less energy to make, a temporary compromise could be to add a tax for plastic bags. This will encourage reusing and limiting them. Taxing plastic bags has proven to be effective in cities like Aspen where the money collected goes back to businesses and waste reduction programs . Until an effective solution is found, cities can slowly reduce their dependence on plastic bags and promote green habits. People can also promote the reusing of plastic bags. Decreasing the use of single-use plastic may be the first step, but it will not solve every issue we face.

- Anne Jiao

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