I have several friends who swear up and down that using paper bags at the grocery store is way better for the environment than if you opt for plastic. On the other side of the aisle (obnoxious pun intended), I have other friends who would bet their life savings that plastic is better. So, which one actually is the best option?

First, let’s take a look at paper bags. Paper bags are made from wood, which means that trees have to be cut down. Moving down the supply chain, once the logs are cut they must be transferred via truck (or, in remote locations, by helicopter). The trees then have to dry for at least three years, when the bark is then stripped and the wood is chopped up. Keep in mind, all of this machinery uses energy.

The wood chips are then cooked, using a ridiculous amount of heat and pressure (pffft, and you thought your electric bill was high!). This creates a wood stew of sorts, which gets combined with a sulphurous and limestone acid for eight hours, until the wood becomes a pulp. All of the steam is vented outside.

This pulp is washed and then bleached, with each stage requiring thousands of gallons of fresh water. Color is added to additional water, which is then mixed in a ratio of 1 part pulp to 400 parts clean water to make the paper. The concoction is strained through bronze wires, leaving only the pulp. It is then rolled into paper and put into bag shapes. They’re shipped to your grocery store, where you can either choose them or the plastic option.

Of course, there is more to paper bags than just bringing them home once they’ve been filled with groceries. They can be reused as trash can liners, for craft projects, thrown away or recycled. If they get thrown away, they will decompose on their own after a few years. Hell, they can even be composted, if you’ve got the time and energy.

If they get recycled, they must be turned back into pulp using more chemicals and fresh water. The rinsing/straining/rolling/cutting process is much similar to the one described above…a wash, rinse, repeat process that uses more energy.

This blog is turning into something much longer than I expected, so tomorrow I’ll go over what it takes to make a plastic bag. The post after that will describe (in detail) the environmental aftermath that both types of bags leave in their wake. Using hard numbers, I’ll help you to decide which way to answer the never ending question of "would you like paper or plastic?"