So why not just use paper bags? Isn’t that the environmentally friendly alternative? The truth is that it may not be. Paper bag production generates 50 times more water pollutants and 70% more air pollutants than the plastic bag production, leaving an enormous environmental footprint.
- Paper production requires hundreds of thousands of gallons of water as well as toxic chemicals like sulphurous acid, which can lead to acid rain and water pollution.
- The paper industry has an enormous environmental footprint. It takes more than four times as much energy (2,511 BTUs) to produce a paper bag as it does a plastic bag (594 BTUs).
- Paper bag production generates 50 times more water pollutants and 70 percent more air pollutants than the plastic bag production.
- Americans consume more than 10 billion paper bags per year.
- Approximately 14 million trees are cut down every year for paper bag production. When forests are cut down to make paper, major absorbers of greenhouse gases are eliminated.
- Most of the pulp used for paper shopping bags is virgin pulp, not recycled materials, as it is considered stronger.
- A paper bag generates greater methane emissions in the landfill than a plastic bag.
- Paper bags take up more landfill space than plastic bags. Plastic bags account for about 9 to 12 percent of waste volume, while paper occupies about half of overall landfill volume.
- Paper bags take more energy to recycle than plastic bags do. It takes 91% less energy to recycle a pound of plastic than it takes to recycle a pound of paper.
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