Paper Or Plastic?

The three definitions all include environmental, economic and social concerns. The first was from the Brundtland Report stating how sustainable development meets today’s needs without compromising the ability of the future. The Global Institute of sustainability says how Sustainable Development considers “environmental, economical, and social systems.” The third is similar by saying how it’s “economic prosperity, environmental quality and social justice” by John Elkington.

Paper vs. Plastic: From the table below, the verdict is that plastic is better because it’s less harm to the environment and lighter. But if you had to choose, the ultimate winner is to have re-usable cloth bags that you can bring with you each time you go grocery shopping.

	PROS	CONS
PLASTIC	Light Weight, Made Energy Efficiently, less air and water pollution	non-biodegradable, not commonly recycled, takes more to do the same task (bagging groceries)
PAPER	degradable (in certain environments), because it's heavier it can do the job with less (bagging groceries)	can destroy the eco-system when the wood comes from unsustainable forests, the pulping process can lead to air and water pollution from all of the chemicals, heavier in weight which creates more transportation costs