Paper or Plastic Bags?

Now that we are aware of the ill effects of plastic bags, every time we step into our grocery store, we have to choose our bags carefully. Plastic banning have become a global concern and countries like India, Bangladesh and Ireland have formulated stringent guidelines against plastic for commercial or domestic purposes. Since plastic bags have taken a backseat and people have considered them as the biggest hazard to environmental pollution, paper bags have come up to the forefront as it conjures up an organic image and can be recycled after every use whereas plastic bags are artificially made and can be harmful to plant and animal kingdom.

But do you know paper bags, too have their own share of negative points and can be a threat to nature and its evolution in the long run? While making a comparative study between the two products we have to count on all the impacts both have on the environment. Not just the time taken for plastic and paper bags to be decomposed, but the entire life cycle of the bag, raw materials used, energy used up, transportation cost and the amount of natural resources consumed need to be factored into the whole equation.

Here’s a comparative analysis between plastic and paper bags that will give you a clear idea about your best possible pick:

1. Plastic bags are lightweight and are blown off easily by wind. As a result they are stuck to the branches of trees or flown in the waterways or mixed into the soil creating problem for livestock and marine animals in particular. On the other hand paper bags are easily recycled and missed with soil. But, paper is made from trees that serve as renewable resource of nature when grown sustainably. In that way plastic bags are not made at the cost of deforestation of vegetation.
2. Plastic bags give out toxic gases when they are burnt and act as causative factor to a number of life threatening diseases. It is also a chief reason for environmental pollution. Likewise, paper bags too have negative effects on our environment. Production of paper bags leads to greenhouse gas effect which also causes a number of serious ailments.
3. According to a report published by the Kansas Green Guide, in the year 1999 about 14 million trees were cut down for manufacturing 10 billion paper bags. There will be less number of trees to absorb the harmful greenhouse gas produced during paper bag manufacturing.  On the other hand, for making plastic bags, oil, electricity and coal serve as the chief sources of energy and the process has certainly harmful effects on our Nature.
4. On the commercial ground, plastic bags are economic and customer friendly but they cannot be decomposed or recycled easily. Paper bags that are decomposed easily have higher percentage of recycled component and therefore highly expensive for retailers to provide them to their customers. Also, many paper bags are reinforced with harmful chemicals such as waxes, chemicals and even plastics to be sold at affordable prices at large scale.
5. Due to high price of  paper bags people have to opt for low cost plastic bags. While plastic causes direct harm to our environment for its base component, paper bags also have negative impact on nature due to the harmful raw materials used in its manufacturing.

So putting these data on both sides of the scale you must be certain that cotton bags can be your best pick. Amanasiacotton bags will be your ultimate style statementthat sends powerful message to save our planet.