We have arrived at worrying situation of our environmental problems, plastic waste has reached an alarming level that can harm the environment. Fortunately, many countries have become aware of this issue, they have initiated to prevent the use of plastic bags, some even completely ban plastic bags. This public awareness also means the rapid increased demand for eco-friendly carrier bags.
We believe that most of you have known the reason why plastic bags are harmful for our environment, most of them are made from non-degradable material. They also can destroy living organisms that live in plants, water, animals, and even human beings. However, considering the effectiveness, we believe this question keeps popping up inside your head, which one is better, paper or plastic bag?
There are different types of materials used to create paper bags, such as food bags, cookie bags, cotton bags, etc. Each type has its own special features, just like fabrics or clothing materials. Paper bags usually can sustain more of heavy weights, they are available in different patterns and styles with reasonable rates, click here to browse wide variety of paper bags. Even though plastic can be recycled, but the process requires to re-melting the bags, the result won’t be as good as the first time due to polymer chains that break. Compared to plastic bags, paper bags are considered to be more environmentally friendly because they are easier to recycle, also paper decomposes easily and doesn’t harm the environment.
But do you know that brown paper bags come from trees? Yes, lots of trees. This means if you bought your paper bags from companies that don’t care about environment (cut down trees and cause deforestation), you were actually participating in creating global warming. We strong suggest that you get your paper bags from companies that harvest the trees from sustainable forests a.k.a managed forests where every tree used is replaced right away. You usually can find this information based on an FSC or PEFC mark, but it’s different in every country.
If plastic bags are considered bad for environment due to its inability to decompose, then how about biodegradable plastic bags. These type of bags are combination of biopolymer and Polylactide (PLA), these materials are completely biodegradable in compost because they are not mode from crude oil (petroleum) products, they are made from organic materials. You should also be aware that not all plastic bags marked as “biodegradable†are actually so, these plastic bags can also made from recycled plastic mixed with cornstarch. How to find the right one? Well, you should make sure the plastic bags are 100% made from plant-based plolymers. This type of plastics is considered as bioplastics, but it starts to create conflict since the material might be unsustainably harvested, it might compete with our food supply.
So, basically, we recommend that you choose paper bags instead of plastic, but you should also actively find out where those paper bags come from. Don’t just throw away those bags when you’re done, you can always re-use it to carry your groceries or some cool DIY projects. Even better if you have a reusable bag that you can always count on for years. You can find unique unique, personalize reusable bags at Etsy.
