The easy answer is neither. Both are bad. Both use resources that could easily be saved if we used reusable bags. But however, researchers have shown that plastic wins over paper.

But if you look to the damaged to wildlife and the environment by used plastic bags you can see it is definitely not a good way to carry your groceries. Over 100,000 birds and marine life die each year because of plastic debris, much of it plastic bags. In Australia, 80 million bags litter the beaches and public areas. That’s out of 7 billion check-out bags used annually. A plastic bag lasts about 500 years so when a bird is killed by it, the bird will decompose and the bag is freed to injure another.

So with all that plastic flying around and causing death you would think paper is a better solution, but it’s not and here’s why. The U.S. cut down 14 million trees to produce the 10 billion paper grocery bags used back in 1999. I am sure this figure will remain high for some time until someone makes a law banning the use of disposable bags.
Such laws are starting to show up in other countries. In 2002, Ireland started to tax the users of plastic bags. In the first three months the tax raised $3.45 million and cut the use of

San Francisco is the first city that has passed a law that will outlaw plastic checkout bags at supermarkets in six months and chain pharmacies in a year. The movement has begun.
So what about recycling? Well, I went to the website reusablebags.com and found out some interesting facts. It takes 91 percent less energy to recycle a pound of plastic than a pound of paper. Recycling of either type of bag is low, only 10 to 15 percent of paper bags and 1 to 3 percent of plastic bags.

Paper sacks generate 70 percent more air and 50 times more water pollutants than plastic bags. Think of the smell that comes from a paper plant. They use a lot of toxic chemicals to create paper. Not only does it get into the water but eventually it will settle into the sediments and stay there for a long time. Then it gets into the food chain.

The only right answer to the question of paper or plastic is to use a reusable bag. The reusable bags are great. You might even have one or some other type of reusable sack that could be used to carry your groceries. If you need one, they are relatively inexpensive and will carry more than either paper or plastic bags.

Since I bought my bag, the people at the grocery store are very impressed with my actions and support the move. The biggest change with using the reusable bag is remembering to bring it to the store. I put my bag in the trunk of my car so it is with me when I shop. If I forget to bring it into the store, I just put the groceries in the cart with no bag and put them in my bag when I get to the car.

Try it! It will make a big difference in the world and will make you feel good.