Which is more environmentally friendly: paper or plastic?

As you wrap up your weekly grocery shopping and get in line at the supermarket, it's time for yet another difficult choice. The cashier mechanically spouts at you, "Paper or plastic?" referring to what kind of bag you'd prefer. For some people, it's a stressful decision. Convenience is pulling you toward plastic, but a nagging green conscience might automatically push you toward paper. However, it's raining, and if your paper bags break, it could ruin your purchases. On the other hand, is it selfish to put immediate convenience over the thousands of years it might take for a plastic bag to degrade in a landfill? But wait a minute — aren't we encouraged to save the trees and avoid overusing paper?

Consumer consciences aren't the only ones plagued by the "paper or plastic" question. Grocery stores pay less for plastic bags but get pressure from environmental groups to stop offering them. So retailers and even cities are deciding to stop asking the familiar question. Instead, they're making the decision for us. Touting environmental concerns, the grocery store chain Whole Foods stopped giving out plastic bags in 2008. Entire cities like San Francisco and Oakland, have passed measures restricting — or even banning — the use of plastic bags in grocery stores.

In response to Oakland's ban, an organization backed by plastic manufacturers sued the city. The Coalition to Support Plastic Bag Recycling claimed the city failed to do enough research into the repercussions of such a ban. The suit wasn't on the grounds that a ban would wreak havoc on plastic profits but rather on the environment. The coalition claimed plastic is just as green as paper or, perhaps more accurately, paper is just as harmful to the environment as plastic [source: Heredia]. It contended that replacing plastic bags with paper might cause more harm than good to the planet.

So what's it gonna be: paper or plastic? Both come with distinct disadvantages to the environment.

Paper Versus Plastic: Environmental Disadvantages of Each

When you do get to choose between paper and plastic, don't let green guilt necessarily pull you toward paper. Consider that both materials have drawbacks for the environment.

Before you brown bag it, consider these environmental disadvantages of paper:

Causes pollution: Paper production emits air pollution, specifically 70 percent more pollution than the production of plastic bags [source: Thompson]. According to certain studies, manufacturing paper emits 80 percent more greenhouse gases [source: Lilienfield]. And consider that making paper uses trees that, instead, could be absorbing carbon dioxide. The paper bag-making process also results in 50 times more water pollutants than making plastic bags [source: Thompson].
Consumes energy: Even though petroleum goes into making plastic, it turns out that making a paper bag consumes four times as much energy as making a plastic bag, meaning making paper consumes a good deal of fuel, according to a Northern Ireland Assembly briefing note.
Consumes water: The production of paper bags uses three times the amount of water it takes to make plastic bags [source: Lilienfield].
Inefficient recycling: The process of recycling paper can be inefficient — often consuming more fuel than it would take to make a new bag [source: Milstein]. In addition, it takes about 91 percent more energy to recycle a pound of paper than a pound of plastic, according to a Northern Ireland Assembly briefing note.
Produces waste: According to some measures, paper bags generate 80 percent more solid waste [source: Lilienfield].
Biodegrading difficulties: The EPA has stated that in landfills, paper doesn't degrade all that much faster than plastics [source: Lilienfield].

However, plastic has a bad reputation for a reason. Here are some environmental disadvantages of plastic:

plastic bag bin — Many stores offer bins for properly recycling old plastic bags.
David McNew/Getty Images

Litter: Littered plastic bags are everywhere today — blown around streets and stuck in fences and trees. And aside from their use in the occasional art film (à la American Beauty), they can be an eyesore and a pain.
Danger to wildlife: Plastic waste is deceptive for birds and other wildlife, who mistake it for food. And you can imagine how eating plastic messes with animals' intestines. As a result, animals can die of starvation [source: Spivey]. To prevent this, perhaps paper is the better choice, especially if you live on the coast, as your plastic waste is more likely to make its way to marine life and sea birds [source: Thompson].
Long-term degrading: Light breaks plastic down so it photodegrades rather than biodegrades. Estimates say that this process can take up to 500 or even 1,000 years in landfills [source: Lapidos]. Unfortunately, we don't really know, as plastic is a relatively new invention.
Recycling difficulties: Although for the most part, plastic takes less energy to recycle than paper, plastic bags are a frustrating recycling dilemma. The curbside recycling in many communities is not meant for plastic bags because they can screw up the plant's machines [source: Milstein]. Instead, some stores offer bins in which to properly recycle plastic bags.

These factors have made the question of which is greener mind-boggling. The EPA has admitted that not only is the question unresolved, but it doesn't consider the use of plastic bags a major issue [source: Spivey]. Most environmental groups say that it's best to avoid the choice altogether — instead, we should diligently reuse bags.

Which Is More Environmentally Friendly: Paper or Plastic?

Paper Versus Plastic: Environmental Disadvantages of Each

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