Friday, December 5, 2008

What Happened to the Old-Fashioned Paper Bag?

Has anyone noticed how grocery stores, supermarkets, and fast-foods are now using non-biodegradable containers and bags these days? There was a time when everybody used paper bags. Then, there was less trash to throw out and paper bags also had the appeal of being useful as wrappers, compared to plastic bags and Styrofoam containers that are usually ended up in the waste bin after having served their purpose as containers of commodities.

While useful, non-biodegradable plastic bags and Styrofoam containers only add to the tons of waste sent to landfills everyday, and we all know that landfills have limited capacities. In many countries, particularly those that do not have the advanced technology collection and recycling facilities, some plastics and Styrofoam tend to stay in the environment for quite a long time - give or take a thousand years - creating environmental eyesores, chemical byproducts, and plenty of rubbish that do harm to both plant and animal life.

Paper bags, although arguably also damaging to the environment due to the source of the material, can be brought back to being popular for the simple reason that they produce less impact on the environment and are in fact environment-friendly for the most part. Bringing them back into the public consciousness will solve a big part of the problem of having to deal with waste material that's not recycled. The fibers for the paper can also be sourced from tree farms or farm plant fibers (like from corn and other grains) that are both easy harvested and are sustainable. This way, old-growth forests aren't affected. It's just a suggestion that has widespread effects on businesses, but it's really high time to get the old-fashioned paper bag back.



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