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Rubbish clearance and plastic bags
We use 10 billion plastic bags in the UK every year - that's nearly 200 for every man, woman and child. Many people identify these as one of the biggest green offenders. Are they right?
You may be surprised to hear that I think plastic bags are a better eco-choice than paper bags. We all know that paper comes from a renewable resource - trees - and will biodegrade when thrown away, so why isn't it better?
A paper bag is about six times heavier than a plastic bag and takes up to ten times more space in a landfill site as the material is denser. And bag for bag it actually uses about the same amount of fossil fuels as a plastic bag in its manufacture.
Then there's the biodegradability issue. If something is 'biodegradable' it means it's broken down by bugs and bacteria over a period of time.
Anything that rots also releases greenhouse gases - either C02 or, more problematic, methane. Landfill sites produce an awful lot of these gases, so much, in fact, that there's a European law restricting the amount of biodegradable waste they can take. This means they don't actually want more material that rots.
Julia Hailes forward by Rosie Boycott "The new green consumer guide. You can make a difference"
