What are the pros and cons of plastic bags?
It takes more than four times as much energy to manufacture a paper bag as it does to manufacture a plastic bag. In 1999, 14 million trees were cut to produce the 10 billion paper grocery bags used by Americans that year alone. Paper sacks generate 70% more air and 50 times more water pollutants than plastic bags. It takes 91% less energy to recycle a pound of plastic than it takes to recycle a pound of paper. But recycling rates of either type of disposable bag are extremely low, with only 10 to 15% of paper bags and 1 to 3% of plastic bags being recycled, according to the Wall Street Journal. Current research demonstrates that paper in today's landfills does not degrade or break down at a substantially faster rate than plastic does. In fact, nothing completely degrades in modern landfills because of the lack of water, light, oxygen and other important elements that are necessary for the degradation process to be completed. A paper bags takes up more space than a plastic bag in a landfill, but because paper is recycled at a higher rate, saving space in landfills is less of an issue.
PROS: CONVENIENT EASY TO CARRY LIGHT WEIGHT CONS: FILLS UP LANDFILL HARM THE ENVIRONMENT TEAR VERY EASILY USED TO FREQUENTLY
