Actually, teeeechnically growing trees explicitly to make paper bags is a net carbon sink and reduces greenhouse gases in the atmosphere long as the energy used to process the is low and the bags aren't eventually burned.
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plastic is a petrochemical product so plastic always worst than any biomaterial - when we talk about biodegradable - we have to reflect that plastic compounds now being found in every cell, in us and other species. Pollutant doesn't capture its health, environmental and emissions impacts
aug 29, 2025, 1:42 pm • 2 0 • view
I know that the after-usage environmental cost is completely intolerable, however making those cheap flimsy bags on an industrial scale involves refining less than half a gram of polyethylene, then stretching and cutting it , so the unit carbon cost is relatively low. >
aug 29, 2025, 2:05 pm • 1 0 • view
Paper bags have a high unit carbon cost, partly offset by the embodied wood pulp,but increased by the heat and water needed to pulp and roll all that paper. They are much less impactful if they do reach the natural environment, however ,which is why they're preferable.
aug 29, 2025, 2:07 pm • 1 0 • view