Comments on: Paper vs. plastic — is one better for the environment? http://peninsulapress.com/2012/04/24/paper-vs-plastic-is-one-better-for-the-environment/ News and Views from Santa Clara and San Mateo Counties Thu, 11 Oct 2012 18:15:23 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.5 By: KK http://peninsulapress.com/2012/04/24/paper-vs-plastic-is-one-better-for-the-environment/comment-page-1/#comment-11669 KK Wed, 25 Apr 2012 20:41:20 +0000 http://peninsulapress.com/?p=18784#comment-11669 A solid, user-friendly overview of Life Cycle Assessment thinking. Consumers often get caught up in the more visual impacts of these products (e.g. the Pacific Garbage Patch). But it’s important to consider their impacts throughout the life cycle (resource extraction and sourcing, production, use, and disposal/reuse) and on a variety of environmental systems (water, GHG emissions, land use, natural resources, air quality, etc). So many variables and assumptions come into play that it can really be difficult to compare the products and determine which option is truly “best.” Great job explaining that dilemma.

One concern I have with the article is that this assessment process is not applied to reusable bags. I assume they require even more intense inputs than paper bags. Therefore, we’d have to use them for longer to offset the additional environmental impacts. How many times would we have to use a reusable bag in order to “breakeven”? Again, diversity in production processes really complicates this type of calculation, but the point is that reusable bags are not the straightforward solution the article suggests. There is a trade off. I too believe that reusable bags are ultimately the proper action, but I’d love to see the data to back it up.

Thanks for helping get people to think more deeply about these issues!

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