Canary and the coal mine

[PWC]

I don't care for plastic bags, but in all places except the commissary, that is the only choice. State and city landfill says NOT to put in recycle, so they go into the white kitchen garbage bags or the green yard bags. I get paper when I can because I make fewer trips to unload at home, and they stand by themselves when I dump stuff in them.

I don't understand the Danish conclusion you state. Having lived in Europe for a little while, I believe what's missing is how often someone shops. Europeans don't shop like Americans; fill the car once a week or every other week. They shop every 2-3 days, and most I saw used thier own totes. Using a cloth bag for 9 1/2 yrs would seem to obviate the use of 7100 single-use-then-throw-away bags, of which less than 30% get repurposed, I feel, but could be wrong.

I'm sure CH will have some eloquently phrased rebuttel.

[Vern Humphrey]

I don't care for plastic bags, but in all places except the commissary, that is the only choice. State and city landfill says NOT to put in recycle, so they go into the white kitchen garbage bags or the green yard bags. I get paper when I can because I make fewer trips to unload at home, and they stand by themselves when I dump stuff in them.

I don't understand the Danish conclusion you state. Having lived in Europe for a little while, I believe what's missing is how often someone shops. Europeans don't shop like Americans; fill the car once a week or every other week. They shop every 2-3 days, and most I saw used thier own totes. Using a cloth bag for 9 1/2 yrs would seem to obviate the use of 7100 single-use-then-throw-away bags, of which less than 30% get repurposed, I feel, but could be wrong.

I'm sure CH will have some eloquently phrased rebuttel.

The point of the article was that if you add up the energy, pollution, etc., associated with using bags. you have to use the cloth bag 7,100 times before you would have less impact on the environment than if you used plastic. Remember, cotton has to be grown -- with plowing, fertilizing, etc. That has to be figured into the equation.

[PWC]

If you are going back to the land for the cotton tote, then you have to do the same for plastic.

Plastic is s petro byproduct.....well has to be drilled (That alone would cover the cost of farming at least 2 years of cotton cropping a 1K acre farm.) Refinery cost, raw chemicals processing, may be close to ginning, spinning and weaving costs, I don't know. I do know there are a lot of spun polymer 'totes' hanging on racks near store's points of sale. Cotton totes are hi-end. Reusable totes are more cost efficient than one-time-use, which DOES have its place in use.

[Vern Humphrey]

If you are going back to the land for the cotton tote, then you have to do the same for plastic.

Plastic is s petro byproduct.....well has to be drilled (That alone would cover the cost of farming at least 2 years of cotton cropping a 1K acre farm.) Refinery cost, raw chemicals processing, may be close to ginning, spinning and weaving costs, I don't know. I do know there are a lot of spun polymer 'totes' hanging on racks near store's points of sale. Cotton totes are hi-end.

That's what the study did -- factored everything in the chain to arrive at a result.

It's kind of like electric cars -- there's no pollution coming out of the exhaust pipe. But go and look at what's coming out of the smokestack at the power plant.

[clintonhater]

The point of the article was that if you add up the energy, pollution, etc., associated with using bags. you have to use the cloth bag 7,100 times before you would have less impact on the environment than if you used plastic.

Reusable bags have NO impact on the environment compared to the way in which throw-away plastic bags are most often misused--by either throwing them away deliberately, or carelessly letting them blow away. Why do you think several states have banned them, despite ferocious, well-funded, opposition from all the retailers using them?

[S.A. Boggs]

They make great water bombs!
Sam

[Vern Humphrey]

Reusable bags have NO impact on the environment compared to the way in which throw-away plastic bags are most often misused--by either throwing them away deliberately, or carelessly letting them blow away. Why do you think several states have banned them, despite ferocious, well-funded, opposition from all the retailers using them?

That's not what the Danish study showed.