| Paper bags do not have a worse environmental impact than plastic bags. Paper bags have a worse impact in a very few, small, narrow metrics such as "ocean de-nutrification". Everyone blurts this out because of a study done in Europe that looked only at a very limited range of environmental factors specifically suited to the country that commissioned the study. Also, the vast majority of "savings" plastic bags realized over other forms of bag is the energy density of the petroleum used to produce them and the fact that that energy could be recovered by the massive network of refuse-to-power incineration stations in (the country that did the study, I can't remember). But most plastic bags don't end up mindfully collected, sorted, and incinerated. When taken as a whole, paper bags are much, much better for the environment than plastic bags. In 100 years, the paper bag I (HYPOTHETICALLY) threw out my car window is long gone, worm food, turned into soil. The plastic bag I (HYPOTHETICALLY) threw out my car window is now several billion flakes of microplastics and the world is struggling with the health ramifications of a century of build-up in the environment. For that matter, the glass bottle is now harmless beach glass or sand (or a valuable collectible on ebay-next), and the aluminum beer can is now its 10,000th reincarnation-- having been picked up by a bum and traded in for cash. My favorite "HOT TAKE" from that study is that "yOu HaVe To ReUsE a ClOtH bAg 500 tImEs" for it to be more efficient (in a very narrow spectrum of categories, remember) like that's an insurmountable hurdle. My made-in-USA cotton totes I got on Amazon for $13.99 in 2010 have been used once a week since I got them. You do the math. |
A good cotton or linen or jute bag will live for some years of use too though. Main trade-off is water resistance. Only waxed woolen bags and leather (obnoxious for other reasons) are waterproof.
Another travesty are packing filler "peanuts", "airbags" and foam and plastic tape.