O Noes! Plastic Bags are Greener than Paper
Whole Foods, which, for those of you who don’t have one, is the world’s largest eco-healthy food store, has just promised to completely stop using plastic bags. And while I like that they’re, y’know, considering these things, it turns out that their logic may be faulty.So I decided to do a little research, and it turns out, the greenest thing about paper bags is the way people perceive them. Because they seem more natural, people think they’re better for the environment. Well, it’s a damn shame, but they’re wrong.
Whole Foods’ moving over to 100% recycled paper is actually going to be worse for the environment.
(Via EcoGeek.org)
Bring.Your.Own.Bags!
There’s a slow momentum here of large and small grocery stores pushing reusable bags, and some are starting to charge fees for using traditional plastic bags. I’m hoping more businesses will recognize the opportunity to save money by not offering plastic bags at all and instead have reusable bags available at cost.