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Paper or Plastic? You might be surprised.

Now that we are looking a lot closer at the carbon footprint, the age old question ( well, at least for the last 5-10 years) needs to be readdressed. Is it better to use paper of plastic bags? The Oregonian ran an excellent piece titled Paper or Plastic?

Food for thought, and a reason to read the article:

"Driving a car one mile consumes as much energy as making 14 plastic shopping bags.
It takes about as much energy to make one plastic bag as to heaat 6 cups of coffee
It takes about 3 times as much energy to make a paper bag.

But, paper is renewable, easier to recycle and less hazardous to wildlife.

So what's the solution? You'll have to read to find out....

Larry Morris is a loan Officer with Equipoint Financial Network in Newberg, Oregon. He specializes in relocations and Sherwood, Oregon neighborhoods and Yamhill COunty. He can be reached at larry.morris@equipoint.com . His website is www.PDX-Mortgage.com . This material is copy protected 2007 by Larry Morris, Mortgage News that Matters. All Rights Reserved His opinions do not necessarily represent the views of Equipoint Financial Network.

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Posted by Larry Morris, Oregon Mortgages on 05/20/2007 12:27 AM

Comments (26)

green oregon, moving to oregon

Originally posted at: Oregon Mortgage News: Paper or Plastic? You might be surprised.

This post has been included in Oregon Information

26 Comments on Paper or Plastic? You might be surprised.

MAY

2007

Canvas!

Bring your own bags LOL

How hard is it to have a couple canvas grocery sacks for when you go buy food? Did you hear that IKEA is now going to charge for their bags? Good!

You don't have any canvas sacks? Go look at Goodwill or any thrift shop and I would bet you can find some.

Spoken like a true northwesterner!!! A point in the article is that stores should start charging for bags.

Sarah I can't agree more. I pick up canvas bags everywhere I go. Sometimes I have so many I am tripping over them, they are not hard to find. I hope stores start charging then maybe everyone will start bringing their own. I can't believe the people that buy one item and need a bag for it!

I just heard the Stanford Univ has said that trees in the arctic areas absorb heat from the sun and if there were no trees the snow would reflect the suns radiation thereby helping prevent part of the global warming problem.

I guess we don't need the oxygen the trees produce either? WHAT NUTS!

Sounds like people can't make their mind up again about how to save the planet.

Either way creates problems, there's nothing you can do in this world and not have it do some damage. Imagine all the pollution that is caused by the factories to create the computer you are using right now! (Half joking)

The point is - somewhere there has to be a compensating factor to keep everything stable. Work on keeping that going and we'll be okay.

I am in San Francisco and they are banning plastic bags here. I guess every little bit counts for sure. California started banning smoking in doors, and then a lot other followed suit. Who knows, maybe more areas will start banning plastic bags.

Ashley - Thanks for stopping by.

Don - that's a new one on me...and coming from Stanford/

Abraham - That really was the point of the article. Neither is really good. Use the bags you already have or go canvass.

Jonathan - But as the article points out, paper has a larger carbon footprint and creates more air and water pollution. If I understand the math in the article, you could drive 3 miles in your car on the same amount of energy it takes to produce 1 paper bag, or a fraction of a mile for 1 plastic bag. So banning plastic in favor or paper isn't the solution. It's good politics...and a good start, but not the answer.

MAY

2007

I am not sure why they do not used the trees that are burnt in fires for paper-bags - the logging industry is dead because of the spotted owls and people who do not understand the danger they put those of us in the country type areas of Oregon in.

I am sounding like the soap box so... I will step down... I use both depending on what I am carrying home.

Thesa - Thanks for stopping by. Hope things are better with Max. My mother-in-law sold he Black Butte condo in part due to the ever-increasing wildfires. Yes, it's a shame that the environmentalists are mostly unwilling to allow our forests to be managed.

I have a step-aunt who is a big-wig in the Forest Service and she is very frustrated. The environmentalists have wanted a hands-off approach to logging of the forests, and now with all of the fires they are chastising the USFS for not managing the forests.

There needs to be a compromise until our forests are healthy.

Oh, thanks for adding me as an Associate.

Larry, theres a big difference between managing a forest and clearing a forest. The loggers even want the old growth forests in northern CA. They're not satisfied with what they can have. Mother nature has a great way of taking care of her children. If a forest burns its because it needs to. We don't need to go in and chop down every living tree on the pretext of fire control. And neither paper nor plastic is friendly to the environment. The only way to go is canvas or another natural product.

Terry Haugen - STAGE it RIGHT!

Very interesting -- It all depends on how you look at everything. I think the canvass bags are great -- a lot of stores now have them. A great way to shop -- the fold into a very small "footprint" and then expand. They come in all sorts of colors -- A great alternative.

MAY

2007

Eco-wise development Asheville, NC

Lately I've been doing some serious wondering about life from the perspective of the trees...

####

Terry - You have some points, but not every logger/logging company purports your views. AND many of the forests are unhealthy because we have been preventing forest fires in the name of protecting homeowners for to many years. Now we have forests that are unhealthy and prone to disastrous fires. There are extreme views on both sides. A common ground needs to be found.

Everything in moderation!

How about what is in the bag....maybe that is where the waste lies. Just my 2 cents.

I get soo peeved with all the wrapping and boxing, sealing and securing our products get packaged in . It is overkill in my opinion. I too use both, depending on the contents.

Hey janeAnne- Your photo is cool. what did you do to put the moon shadow thingy in there >???

Chris - Yes I agree.

Michele - You bring up an excellant point. It's kind of like buying a pizza and a diet cola and feeling good about the diet cola...

Hi Larry, how can we prevent forest fires? Mother nature takes very good care of her planet, if we just stay out of it. And of course loggers and logging companies don't purport my views, if they did they wouldnt be raping the planet.

Terry Haugen - STAGE it RIGHT!

Yes, that's true. however, what has happened in the west with forests really isn't much different then what has happened in Florida with the draining of the everglades and the damage that has come due to that. All in the name of progress.

MAY

2007

The sad part is even in this state, no matter what we decide. The government looks like it is going to try to help us make the decision by passing laws saying we can't use plastic and then the environmentalists are trying to get it so we can't use paper either.

Larry,

I feel like I am always faced with this dilemma. I always get Paper because it is recyclable in our area and the plastic is not.

Todd - Yes, it will be interesting to see what the future , and the free market system brings.

Dan - Short of cloth bags, that would be the best decision. At least they are recyclable.

I understand there is a decomposable plastic bag , like the diapers that are suppose to deteriorate.

I've heard that to. I still believe that the "new" issues revolve around the carbon footprint for the manufacturing of the bags, whether paper or plastic.

oh, I see. Gee- there certainly are other things we can do without or use in moderation- water, electricity, gas, oil for example.

MAY

2007

Yes, I'm sure taht all of us could do a lot better. I now that I could. My wife sounds like my mom used to...Honey, please turn off the lights after you leave a room.

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