Plastic or Cloth?

[General shadow1912]

So we all know that plastic takes forever to degrade. So, Given that, would you still choose plastic or go cloth at the grocery store? We all know that plastic winds up in the ocean and is then eaten by sea animals and the chemicals in the plastic are bad and it makes the animals die. Well, do you think that all plastic is bad for the environment, even biodegradable plastic, or just going cloth is the most efficient and effective way to help the environment?

[EXTRA!]
Do you want to ban plastic from the grocery store? Post your Opinion!!  

[CommanderAppleSauce]

Hmmm. Plastic, in general, is a complicated issue because there is much of it in packaging. When it comes to grocery shopping I prefer to use cloth or paper. Alot of chain grocery stores offer paper you just have to ask for it. A couple of local chains in my area use paper as the default and don't even offer plastic. Compared to plastic paper is a much better bag to use. Trees, where most paper or wood products come from that aren’t recycled, are considered a renewable resource. And I can see how. A tree only takes about 20 years or so, depending on its use, to reach its full potential for most wood products and even less for paper. Where as coal may take 200 years to renew it's self because it like oil, where our plastics come from, are a valuable resource that takes 100’s of years to renew itself. I'm not saying to go cut down the old growth forests for the sake of not using plastics. Most of our wood/paper comes from farms where the trees are cultivated and farmed in order to create the most usable tree possible which is harder to achieve if you harvest a wild forest. Plus a lot more paper these days a mixture of new paper and recycled paper. But I can also see how paper isn't the best resource to use. Like the oceans, trees are carbon sinks. They take in and store excess carbon dioxide as well as taking the carbon dioxide to create oxygen. But when ever a tree is harvested all of the carbon dioxide that was stored in the tree is released. So if you cut down one tree the effects shouldn't be too bad. But if you cut down an entire forest then the effects are more serious. Not only did you release a whole forests worth of carbon dioxide but you got rid of places for the carbon dioxide to be stored and future carbon dioxide filters. Not to mention what it does the soil. So wood and paper products are really a tough choice. Luckily to ease my sole is that paper IS recyclable and you can buy it recycled. But the other grocery bag choice is cloth bags. I haven't done much research, but hemp fabric has caught my eye. Unfortunately it is illegal to grow hemp here. Cloth bags are perfect in the fact that you never need to throw them away after one use; my mom has some that are almost 15 years old. Granted the handled needed to sown on several times and they also needed to be patched more than once. Like paper, there are some down falls to cloth it mostly has to do with the production. Most of the ones sold at chains with their name on it around here are mostly cotton. Unless you are buying organic cotton, the cotton when grown could have been sprayed with pesticides, herbicides, and fertilizers in orders to enhance and ensure the growth of a healthy crop. To my knowledge cotton doesn't grow in different colors so those pink, orange, or blue cloth bags had to be dyed. Even the white ones bleached. Bleach and dyes if they aren't natural dyes can generate harmful waste which could be disposed of improperly. So what do you use? You should use organic cotton, naturally dyed cloth bags. Or just carry your items out of the store in your arms. To reduce your use of plastic even further try and fill your organic cotton, naturally dyed cloths bags with food items packaged in glass or paper. Sure paper isn't the best but it sure beats plastics by a long shot. Unless they are biodegradable plastics made out of corn or soy. Again those aren't the best due to process of corn and soy production but they too beat oil made plastics.