Paper vs Plastic
Paper
Pros
Paper decomposes more easily than plastic
Paper is recycled more frequently than plastic
Cons
14 million trees are cut down yearly for the manufacturing of paper.
Thousands of gallons of fresh water and bleach are used to clean the pulp in the production of paper bags
Paper produces 70% more air pollution and 50 times more water pollutants than plastic bag production.
It takes 4 times as much energy to manufacture a paper bag as it does to manufacture a plastic bag.
Plastic
Pros
Convenient
Durable and can be reused
Take up less space in a landfill than paper bags
Takes 91% less energy to recycle a pound of plastic than it takes to recycle a pound of paper.
Cons
500 billion to 1 trillion bags are used every year worldwide
About 1 million plastic bags are used every minute
A single plastic bag can take 20 to 1,000 years to degrade
Plastic bags remain toxic even after they break down
Analyzing the data above, it is clear that both paper and plastic have their fair share of negatives. As stated above, paper does degrade faster than plastic, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that it is the more eco-conscious choice. While it may be faster when it comes to being biodegradable, paper also consumes 14 million trees every year for paper production. This fact cannot possibly be seen as a better alternative to plastic, which doesn’t destroy millions of trees every year. While it may save millions of trees, plastic bags are used at a rate of 1 million per minute. This might not seem like such a big deal, but it can take each bag anywhere between 20 and 1,000 years to fully degrade! So plastic bags are clearly more harmful to the earth than paper bags are. Let me explain why I believe that paper bags are the “greener” way to go. Sure, on average, 14 million trees are cut down a year to make paper products, but we can always plant new trees in their places. This may seem like a solution that wouldn’t really pan out, but if you
Pros
Paper decomposes more easily than plastic
Paper is recycled more frequently than plastic
Cons
14 million trees are cut down yearly for the manufacturing of paper.
Thousands of gallons of fresh water and bleach are used to clean the pulp in the production of paper bags
Paper produces 70% more air pollution and 50 times more water pollutants than plastic bag production.
It takes 4 times as much energy to manufacture a paper bag as it does to manufacture a plastic bag.
Plastic
Pros
Convenient
Durable and can be reused
Take up less space in a landfill than paper bags
Takes 91% less energy to recycle a pound of plastic than it takes to recycle a pound of paper.
Cons
500 billion to 1 trillion bags are used every year worldwide
About 1 million plastic bags are used every minute
A single plastic bag can take 20 to 1,000 years to degrade
Plastic bags remain toxic even after they break down
Analyzing the data above, it is clear that both paper and plastic have their fair share of negatives. As stated above, paper does degrade faster than plastic, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that it is the more eco-conscious choice. While it may be faster when it comes to being biodegradable, paper also consumes 14 million trees every year for paper production. This fact cannot possibly be seen as a better alternative to plastic, which doesn’t destroy millions of trees every year. While it may save millions of trees, plastic bags are used at a rate of 1 million per minute. This might not seem like such a big deal, but it can take each bag anywhere between 20 and 1,000 years to fully degrade! So plastic bags are clearly more harmful to the earth than paper bags are. Let me explain why I believe that paper bags are the “greener” way to go. Sure, on average, 14 million trees are cut down a year to make paper products, but we can always plant new trees in their places. This may seem like a solution that wouldn’t really pan out, but if you
Cited: http://plasticvpaper.weebly.com/plastic---pros--cons.html http://plasticvpaper.weebly.com/paper---pros--cons.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mobro_4000