Wondering if the plastic bag is worth it for the sake of the environment?
. . . In this article ‘Things you’re doing to save the planet that are actually terrible’, Vice reveals that reusable cotton tote you feel so smug about is actually polluting the air and waterways more than a plastic bags. Quoting this 2018 Danish study, reusable cotton bags are only a solution to the problem if we reuse them consistently for 11.5 years, or around 7100 times.
Anything less than that won’t offset the fact that manufacturing these types of bags creates 606 times as much water pollution as making a plastic bag, the study reports.
Todd Myers, who is the environmental director of think tank Washington Policy Centre, told Vice people should not “ignore the far more damaging, but less obvious impacts of cotton bags”.
In comparison, according to the study, a paper bag needs to be reused 43 times to offset the environmental impact – but if you’re using a paper bag 43 times you’re taking better care of it than me. Still, reusing and recycling them afterwards is a much better option than its cotton counterpart.
Or even, dare I say it: Continue to reuse plastic bags which we all know are not single use at all.
And what about the plastic-lined reusable jute bags I got from the Farmers Market?
I suspect they’re no better for the environment either.
Sigh, it’s yet another case of green virtue signalling where feeling trumps the science.
Homepaddock 