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Considering the Environmental Impact of ‘Paper or Plastic’

When you are given the option of "paper or plastic" do you consider the environmental impact of that decision? Plastic bags are one of the most common items in our landfills, and often times end up in

Considering the Environmental Impact of ‘Paper or Plastic’

Tom Fudge : Those thin, disposable plastic bags they give you at grocery and other retail stores have become a very common sight in our environment. You see them blowing in the wind. You see them soaked and crushed among the grasses and other pieces of trash at the bottom of ditches. You see them in nearly every public trash can. In fact, plastic bags are an environmental problem. The EPA estimates more than 4.6 million tons of plastic bags were discarded in the U.S. in 2006. Though they are, technically recyclable, more than 92 percent of them end up in the waste stream.

Based on that, San Francisco took the step of banning the use of disposable plastic bags at large retail stores. Many counties have either banned them or they require stores to charge customers to use them. Here in San Diego, you have to pay if you want to use a plastic bag to hold your purchases from IKEA.

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Guests

  • Trudy Balestreri, co-founder of Green World Bags. 
  • Trina Koller, co-founder of Green World Bags.