Paper bags, with their biodegradable materials and recyclable disposal, are often considered to be the environmentally-friendly choice when compared with their plastic counterparts. In fact, this is a common misconception; overall paper bags are more harmful to the environment than disposable plastic ones.
However, paper is very resource-heavy to produce: Manufacturing a paper bag takes about four times as much energy as it takes to produce a plastic bag, plus the chemicals and fertilizers used in producing paper bags create additional harm to the environment.
Manufacturing paper products produces 3.5 times more greenhouse gases than producing plastic packaging. Harvesting trees also means that there are fewer trees to absorb greenhouse gases.
Paper bags have some advantages over plastic bags when it comes to sustainability. They are easier to recycle, and, because they are biodegradable, they can be used for purposes like composting.
Advantages of paper packaging
Unlike its plastic counterpart, paper packaging does not damage the environment. Paper packaging can be 100 per cent recyclable and is easy to recycle for customers – packaging can simply be disposed of in home recycling bins, unlike many types of 'recyclable' plastic.
Paper is a renewable resource but takes more energy to make
It's argued to be a preferable alternative to plastic because it's biodegradable, compostable and recyclable. Plastic is made from fossil fuels such as coal, natural gas and crude oil, all considered to be non-renewable resources.
Paper is a physical medium that we can use to convey ideas, and we can use it to create various learning materials, from simple worksheets to elaborate textbooks. Perhaps most importantly, paper provides a tangible way for students to interact with information.
Plastics have a very good environmental profile. Only 4% of the world's oil production is used for plastics and much less energy is used to produce it compared to other materials. Plastics are durable yet lightweight and thus save weight in cars, aircraft, packaging and pipework.
Plastic bags are a major cause of environmental pollution. Plastic as a substance is non-biodegradable and thus plastic bags remain in the environment for hundreds of years polluting it immensely. It has become very essential to ban plastic bags before they ruin our planet completely.
Sustainable: Cardboard has a clear sustainability benefit over plastic as it is biodegradable and breaks down much quicker. Reusable: One of the greatest advantages is that cardboard boxes can be used again, and with the corners of the boxes being flexible, they can be collapsed when not in use.
Plastic bags start out as fossil fuels and end up as deadly waste in landfills and the ocean. Birds often mistake shredded plastic bags for food, filling their stomachs with toxic debris. For hungry sea turtles, it's nearly impossible to distinguish between jellyfish and floating plastic shopping bags.
The environmental effects of paper production include deforestation, the use of enormous amounts of energy and water as well as air pollution and waste problems. Paper accounts for around 26% of total waste at landfills.
Making pulp and paper requires vast amounts of water. Paper mills may also discharge many pollutants into surrounding water bodies, which causes damage to aquatic ecosystems and threatens the health of people who live near the mill.
Plastic pollution can alter habitats and natural processes, reducing ecosystems' ability to adapt to climate change, directly affecting millions of people's livelihoods, food production capabilities and social well-being.
The safest container materials include glass (ex. Pyrex), stainless steel, and lead-free ceramic. These are better choices than even the safer plastics, which contain chemical additives that may not have been well evaluated for safety.
It may seem surprising, but Brock's study found that plastic bottles are less environmentally damaging than glass bottles. Although plastic cannot be endlessly recycled, the manufacturing process is less energy-intensive, as there is a lower melting point for plastics compared with glass.
Plastic bag bans in Australia were implemented in the early 21st century by the country's states and territories, rather than through federal law. The intent of the bans is to help reduce the amount of plastic pollution in the environment, both in and around Australia and globally.
Belgian chemist and clever marketeer Leo Baekeland pioneered the first fully synthetic plastic in 1907. He beat his Scottish rival, James Swinburne, to the patent office by one day. His invention, which he would christen Bakelite, combined two chemicals, formaldehyde and phenol, under heat and pressure.
There is now 5.25 trillion macro and micro pieces of plastic in our ocean & 46,000 pieces in every square mile of ocean, weighing up to 269,000 tonnes. Every day around 8 million pieces of plastic makes their way into our oceans.
It's made to last - and it does, often for 400 years or more. And at every step in its lifecycle, even long after it has been discarded, plastic creates greenhouse gas emissions that are contributing to the warming of our world.
Recycling reduces the need for new plastic made from raw materials, saving energy and carbon in the process. It takes 75% less energy to make a plastic bottle using recycled plastic compared to newly made plastic.
If you must use paper, make sure you recycle. Paper accounts for 25% of landfill waste (and one third of municipal landfill waste). If the U.S could cut office paper use by just 10% it would prevent the emission of 1.6 million tons of greenhouse gases (the equivalent of taking 280,000 cars off the road).
Before paper as we know it existed, people communicated through pictures and symbols carved into tree bark, painted on cave walls, and marked on papyrus or clay tablets. About 2,000 years ago, inventors in China took communication to the next level, crafting cloth sheets to record their drawings and writings.
If there is no paper, the humanity will be in difficulty. We have no good way to read knowledge given by our predecessors, write what we learn, write what we feel. We have to write on stones or some other substances like tree leaves that our ancestors wrote on. But it will be too slow and difficult to preserve.