What environmental problem is being fixed by using paper instead of plastic bags?

i need a specific name for this problem , are our landfilles being filled to fast. i know this should be a simple answer but i just can think of a title for problem that paper bags will fix.What environmental problem is being fixed by using paper instead of plastic bags?that is exactly the opposite of what is supposed to happen. you use plastic if they are made from recycled plastic. you don't use paper because of the destruction of forests. environmentalits encourage the use of fabric bags that can be used an infinite amount of timesWhat environmental problem is being fixed by using paper instead of plastic bags?
paper is reusable while plastic doesnt detoriate for years and yearsWhat environmental problem is being fixed by using paper instead of plastic bags?Paper can solve pollution. Plastic effects our ozone. either way we are screwed though because if you look at it loosing trees is not really helping our ozone. Hope i could help.What environmental problem is being fixed by using paper instead of plastic bags?
Plastic is not biodegratable

Paper isWhat environmental problem is being fixed by using paper instead of plastic bags?"What's Left Over" or "What Do I Do With It Now?"



Although is has been calculated that the environmental impact between paper and plastic are very similar, it must be taken into consideration as to what to do with it at the end of it's life cycle. Plastic can only be recycled so many times before the polymers are effectively useless, and recycled bags are not used to make new bags, so really it is not 'recycling' (bigger loop -vs- multiple loops) The process with paper is similar.

So now you have to look at what you have at the end of the life of the material and the replacement costs. The paper will degrade into safe mulch, and I happen to use them in the garden as a weed barrier. The plastic will degrade into harmful gasses and inert particles which have been shown to harm soil flora %26amp; fauna.

Replacement of plastic bags requires dependency on petroleum as the source of the polymer. The benefits of the properties of polymers are very useful in making long life durable goods, like lighter, more efficient, and safer automobiles, but not neccissarily for one time use items like straws, cups, or bags. Paper on the other hand comes from a renewable source, mostly trees, but Kanef and Hemp are better sources of paper fiber. This makes it ideal for the sometimes neccissary one time application such as cups, plates, and bags. Paper though does have some questionable production practices. The most harmful of which was from whitening paper with chlorine which has mostly been replaced by sodium percarbonate. Even so, this issue does not apply to the grocery style bag.

Paper as a waste is clean and it's production can be made cleaner, while plastic will always be what it is, non-renewable, toxic, and difficult to dispose of.



P.S. Landfill space isn't the big issue so much as to the amount of resources used to make the stuff will fill them with.
Sustainable Resources.

Renewable Resources.



Paper comes from trees, which can be replanted.

Plastic comes from fossil fuels, which take thousands %26amp; thousands of years to renew.What environmental problem is being fixed by using paper instead of plastic bags?
Recycle both paper and plastic and you will help to slow the amount of trash being created.

"One mans trash is another man treasure."
nothing?What environmental problem is being fixed by using paper instead of plastic bags?
waste management.
paper is biodegradable
logging or deforestation
Hold on there.



I suggest reading a book called "Rubbish" It was written in the early 1990's (around 1990-1992). At the time this book came out , there was a panic that disposable diapers ere going to cause landfills to fill up faster.



The Authors were Archaeologists and Anthropologists, and what they did was go to landfills throughout the world and several in the US. They took core samples by drilling deep into the landfill to see what was in there.



Guess what they found, not Styrofoam, not plastic. What they found was phone books. Phonebooks took up a lot of landfill space. They were able to pull up phonebook samples from the 1950's from inside these landfills.



This book uncovered the truth of what was really causing landfills to fill up and debunked the myths.



Think about it this way. How much petroleum is needed to create plastic bags, and what are the pollution risks. And what kind of chemicals are used to recycle paper that goes into the environment. There are risks in both that you need to weigh.



Remember, plastic is made from petroleum, while paper is made from trees. Paper is a renewable resource (the trees grow back), but how much chemicals are used in creating fresh paper and cleaning recycles paper. The paper companies are constantly growing more trees, otherwise they would run out of supply and go out of business.