Thursday, March 29, 2012

Evil plastic vs. eco-friendly Save-the-Planet bags: which is better?

"London: Scientists looking at different types of bags and their impact on the environment have found that cotton bags offered by many supermarkets may be less "green" than plastic carriers."

That's usually the case with pushy environmental initiatives. At least the eco-friendly bags invariably come with a message you can parade around with, like "I'm saving the planet". One woman in our complex has a car with a bumper sticker on it that says, "The owner of this car has purchased carbon offsets". Who is she kidding?! But they really, really want others to know, don't they?

12 comments:

maryT said...

Impossible to throw used pampers, food scraps, junk etc into a cotton bag for disposal. And I have read that those cotton bags have germs in them.

Patsplace said...

The water, fuel and labour that it takes to make one cloth bag, how long it lasts, what germs it is carrying after 10 uses and on and on, makes the lowly, biodegradable plastic bag the go to bag of choice for thinking shoppers.

BallBounces said...

Biodegradable is the key. I've also read somewhere that it takes a ton of uses of a reusable coffee mug to make up for the energy etc. costs vs. a simple disposable paper or even styrofoam cup.

BallBounces said...

So much about environmentalism is appearances. Why can't a bag simply be (supposedly) eco-friendly? Why does it always have to parade itself with an eco-slogan?!

Anon1152 said...

RkBall said:
That's usually the case with pushy environmental initiatives. At least the eco-friendly bags invariably come with a message you can parade around with, like "I'm saving the planet".

***

I found this rather amusing:
http://revelandriot.com/images/revel-and-riot-god-hates-bags-tote.jpg

Anon1152 said...

"The water, fuel and labour that it takes to make one cloth bag, how long it lasts, what germs it is carrying after 10 uses and on and on, makes the lowly, biodegradable plastic bag the go to bag of choice for thinking shoppers."

They can be washed just like other cotton clothes....

BallBounces said...

You wash clothes with germs in them??!! Yeowwww!

Anon1152 said...

"You wash clothes with germs in them??!! Yeowwww!"

Well. I can't afford to buy new clothes every time the old clothes get dirty...

Anon1152 said...

From that article you link to: "It’s the oil and gas shale miracle, which if left unfettered will turn America and Canada into an energy-independent New Middle East inside of ten years."

Yeah... Almost every day I wish we could be more like the middle east.

Anon1152 said...

oops. Think I just posted in the wrong place...

BallBounces said...

Dirty, yes, but germs -- yeeowwww!

(just kidding)

BallBounces said...

"Yeah... Almost every day I wish we could be more like the middle east."

Hey, so do I!!!

"... nothing intellectually compelling or challenging.. bald assertions coupled to superstition... woefully pathetic"