Paper or Plastic?

Brad
At the local grocery store the other day I was posed a question that caused severe inner turmoil. Maybe you can help? I had just finished purchasing some various food items, as well as some feminine hygiene products for my wife. Upon paying for the items the checkout girl posed this question; "Paper or plastic, sir?" What was I to do? I want to help the environment by reducing my petroleum based product consumption but yet I'm terribly frightened of brown paper bags ever since the "flaming bag of poop" incident. Should I conquer my fear and protect Mother Earth or give in to my fears and go with plastic? Any advice would be appreciated wise one.


Sincerely,



Confused in Bakersfield

Oh the memories. who hasn't opened there door to find a paper bag in fire, only to stomp it out to find your once white loafers, are now just loafers.
But your fear needs to be beat. Plastic bags are not only littering our land fills, it takes too long for a plastic bag to break down. Not only that, in Los Angeles, they spend 8 Million dollars annually just cleaning them up. They are on power lines, alleys, you name it. Is that really where you want your tax money going?
But then again, do you really want paper? Bot really take up so much energy to create, let alone resources. Why don't you just buy a reusable bag?
But don't let me get on a high horse, that I don't even have. I do not use reusable bags. Should I? Yes. But, sad to say, as wonderful as I am, I'm just like everyone else..just more wonderful..and have great advice to boot. I typically get plastic as I use them for lots of other things. If I am going some where, and I may run, I put my clothes in a plastic bag. We take them on walks with our dog, so we can clean up after him. With most plastic bags not the best for lighting, it also takes away the temptation of leaving it afire, on your porch.
So this is where we all need to make a decision. Do we want to be a part of the problem? Will we choose the easiest way, thinking other people will make the right decision? Or will we be the one's to start? We don't have to do much to help. Recycle the things that are worth recycling. (That is Aluminum, metals and glass.) Turn your lights off when you are not in the room. A little will go a long way. And if you do these things you can still have your occasional paper bag to fill with Fido's "Loofer" to light on your neighbors lawn. We can't complain about Foreign oil if we're not doing our part. Save a gallon, become a runner.