You will find many types of bags these days that can be used instead of plastic carrier bags, which are usually meant for single time use. Stopping to use these plastic carrier bags is necessary and you should better switch to using other types of eco-friendly bags.
Your actions can ultimately make a lot of difference and will be the most sustainable choice and good for our environment. However, many of you may not be aware that these plastic bags are offered free in most of the supermarkets was originally meant for replacing paper bags.
Custom Earth Promos can supply you with custom reusable bags ready to order in bulk and people often use them for marketing purpose.
Let us take a closer look to know why paper/cotton bags must be used more in comparison to any plastic carrier bag for making less impact on the environment.
Paper bags
It may be a surprise for many of you to learn that originally the plastic bag was created to replace the paper bag use. For most of us, paper will instantly appeal to us as eco-friendly material when you try to compare it to its plastic counterparts, but remember by creating paper bags also you can damage the environment.
Most paper bags are not created from recycled paper and need the felling of trees, even if it can be from a sustainable source. The requirement of energy and water to create a paper bag is much more than even a plastic bag.
So, when you compare the production cost, energy requirements, transportation, and disposal process of plastic bags and also paper bags then you have to use any paper bag at least 43 times more than plastic to make it more eco-friendly.
Maybe paper bags may not be an ideal substitute for plastic bags from the perspective of environmentally friendly. We can now realize why the plastic bag was created to replace paper bags.
Cotton bags
Cotton is natural and also very sustainable. However, it also has a few major drawbacks to work as a substitute for plastic bag substitute because it needs large amounts of chemicals for growing cotton.
Cotton is eco-friendly material for bags only if it is not too much reused. Luckily, if you treat them well then cotton bags can also last much longer. Let us look at a few pros and cons of cotton bags:
Pros:
- Cotton is a naturally biodegradable plant fiber
- Cotton is also a renewable resource
- Cotton bags will be stronger, soft, smooth, and durable
- Cotton bags have a pleasant feel
- Cotton bags are available widely
Cons:
- Cotton bags cannot offer resistance to moisture unless they are chemically treated
- Growing cotton needs high water consumption
- Cotton is 16% of the world’s pesticides
- Cotton bags are usually bulky, heavy, and expensive to ship
- Cotton if not washed cold or air-dried can suffer shrinkage
Having discussed everything about both these options, we will still consider paper and cotton bags will be a better choice than plastic bags because plastic can damage the environment more than cotton or paper.
