Plastic bags are a hot-button issue for environmentalists. Plastic bags are simply no good. In addition to the harmful chemical components of plastic, the material is responsible for a behemoth pile of waste, unappealing yet accurately named the Great Atlantic Garbage Patch, that stretches from the Virginia coast to Cuba, harboring 26 million plastic particles per square kilometer.

If this massive amount of plastic waste wasnt enough to turn you off from disposable bags, consider how they end up in our sewers, on trees and ingested by wildlife that mistake them for food.

All of those facts have to do with what happens to plastic after we use it. The single-use plastic bag has a very short usability span. According Environment Massachusetts, plastic bags are used for an average of about 12 seconds but they can take up to 1,000 years to degrade.

Finally, theres the environmental footprint of plastic bags. These stables of everyday American grocery shopping generate about 1 kg of carbon for every 5 bags used, according to Time for Change. Consider, then, that Americans use about 100 billion plastic bags per year. Thats 200 billion kgs of carbon per yearand were just talking about the United States.

Clearly, plastic bags need to go. But its not quite as simple as switching to paper or reusable bags, as Ben Adler argues in an article for Grist. Here are a few things we need to consider as we enact new policies to prevent against environmental degradation caused by plastic bags.

The Problem with Paper

Paper bags are often lauded as much better for the environment than plastic products. This is because paper is biodegradable and is therefore much less harmful to nature than plastic. A paper bag in the middle of the ocean is unlikely to cause any trouble to marine life or the composition of the ocean, as its made out of the same stuff as any natural plant.

However, as you probably suspected, deforestation isnt an issue to take lightly. We need the worlds forests direly. They offset carbon in the atmosphere, helping to curb climate change. They are also the homes of billions of species, which the planet requires for biodiversity.

Paper bags made from recycled materials are a great option in some ways, but not in others. In his article, Adler points out that paper bags, in fact, have a higher carbon footprint than plastic.

Very broadly, carbon footprints are proportional to mass of an object, David Tyler, a professor of chemistry at the University of Oregon, told Adler. For example, because paper bags take up so much more space, more trucks are needed to ship paper bags to a store than to ship plastic bags.

The Problem with Reusable Cotton

If youve ever shopped at supposedly environmentally conscious stores, youve probably been handed a complimentary green shopping bag at checkout (or been given the option to purchase one). Even aside from the idea of giving people goods that they wont necessarily use, this practice can be extremely wasteful.

Cotton isnt a miracle product. According to the World Wildlife Fund, cotton occupies just 2.4 percent of the worlds cropland, yet it makes up 11 percent of the global market for pesticides and 24 percent for insecticides.

The Best Solution

Because of these factors, many environmentalists believe that recycled plastic meant for reuse is the best alternative. Plastic that can withstand many uses and that isnt easily thrown away will cut down on waste while curbing carbon emissions and protecting forests.

The ideal city bag policy would probably involve charging for paper and plastic single-use bags, as New York City has decided to do, while giving out reusable recycled-plastic bags to those who need them, especially to low-income communities and seniors, Adler writes.

As for how citizens can best address the problem themselves, using reusable options is still your best bet. However, rather than purchasing cotton bags simply for grocery shopping, consider using a backpack or duffel bag you already own. No need to use resources for yet another bag when you probably have perfectly good ones lying around.

Disclaimer: The views expressed above are solely those of the author and may not reflect those of Care2, Inc., its employees or advertisers.

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The Problem with Plastic Bag Alternatives