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Trying to determine whether paper or plastic is better isn't where we should put our energies.  Disposable bags, plastic or paper, require energy to produce and therefore contribute to environmental degradation.  A targeted tax of 1% or 2% of the total grocery bill would encourage the use of reusable bags and deal with the entire problem.  The tax could be used to handle cleanup/recycling of either bag type. 

To clarify, ethane, the base material to produce plastic bags, is a pretoleum product - it isn't oil but certainly a fossil fuel.

posted 3 years, 3 months ago
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