About a year ago, while at a supermarket, I read a thought-provoking sign posted at the check-out counter. In essence, it said the store was using only plastic bags.
On the surface, that seemed to be very environmentally unfriendly. But the sign went on to explain a rationale that hadn’t occurred to me until then, asserting that the energy and exhaust fumes expelled to transport the same number of paper bags outweighed the fact that plastic wasn’t biodegradable. Paper bags take up more space and require more trucks for transport, so the store believed it was lessening its carbon footprint by using plastic.
It got me thinking, so I looked into it a bit further. According to the Society of Plastics Industry, it requires 400 percent more energy to manufacture a paper bag than a plastic one. And while paper bags are compostable and biodegradable, they also cost the world trees, potentially increasing greenhouse gases. (I say "potentially" because if the trees used are from paper farms and were planted only for the purpose of being cut down, then those wouldn’t factor in here. )
I suppose we could end the discussion by simply purchasing those canvas grocery bags that are showing up in supermarkets everywhere. But what sort of impact does their production have on the environment
I’m just saying there are no easy answers. And you know what they say about the road to hell and good intentions. I was talking about this recently with my husband, John, who had probably the best suggestion of all.
Why not ask for plastic and bring your used plastic bags each time you visit the grocery store If you use them five or six times, or until they start to fall apart, you’ve really done a good thing, haven’t you You can also use them to line your small wastebaskets, instead of purchasing plastic trash bags.
There’s another environmental dilemma I’ve been struggling with, too. We use quite a lot of paper plates in my house. I’m not going to defend it, because I know all about landfills and deforestation and any other argument you could throw my way. But I also know a thing or two about the need for convenience and necessary evils. But are paper plates really evil I don’t know.
Doesn’t the energy used to run the dishwasher and the chemicals from the dishwashing detergent that eventually enter the water table count for anything That might be even worse.
In the fifth paragraph, the sentence "you know what they say about the road to hell and good intention" means that ______.