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Exposing Myths About Plastic Bags
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| | Q: Is it true that plastic bags do not degrade in landfills like paper bags do?
A: The truth is that nothing degrades in modern landfills. You need both air and water in order for anything to decompose. Waste in modern landfills is not exposed to either air or water.
Q: What is the effect of banning plastic bags?
A: Banning any plastic bag is a poorly thought out decision. A study by the Use Less Stuff (USL) determined that banning plastic T-shirt bags did not lead to higher rates of people bringing in their own bags; instead single-use paper bags were used to excess, including a significant amount of double bagging. Visit www.use-less-stuff.com
Q: What is wrong with switching over to using paper bags only?
A: Eliminating single-use plastic bags in favor of paper bags may actually increase environmental impact. Many life cycle studies indicate that paper bags use more water and energy, produce more waste and generate more greenhouse gas emissions than do plastic bags.
Visit www.use-less-stuff.com
Q: Does Roplast make the reusable cloth bag sold by most stores for 99¢?
A: The bag that most people perceive as “cloth” is really non-woven polypropylene, a form of plastic requiring about 28 times as much energy to produce as T-shirt bags. These bags are made in China, are shipped thousands of miles, and could take years to decompose, states the Wall Street Journal, “An Inconvenient Bag” 9/26/08. Roplast does not manufacture these bags and to our knowledge neither does any U.S. manufacturer.
Q: Aren't plastic bags made from oil, thus increasing our dependency on foreign oil?
A: Plastic bags are made of ethane which is a bi-product from domestically produced natural gas, not oil. The ethane must be removed from natural gas to lower the BTUs (British Thermal Units) so it can be used in our homes and businesses. Plastic bags manufactured in the United States are not made of oil. If we were to abolish plastic bags, it would have zero impact on our dependence on foreign oil. What does affect the use of fossil fuels is the transportation of paper bags.
Visit www.savetheplasticbag.com
“LET US CHANGE OUR HABITS, NOT THE ENVIRONMENT TM ” | |
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