While doing some research today, I stumbled across a number of articles touting that single use plastic grocery bags are better for the environment than cotton totes, and far better than organic cotton totes! After seeing this I had to delve deeper and see if this is true and, if so, what makes cotton so bad.
A study done in 2018 by Denmark’s Ministry of Environment and Food, says that in a life cycle assessment of plastic, paper, cotton, organic cotton, RPET and a few other bags, that regular plastic shopping bags has the least effect on the environment. (I would like to note that this study is about production, use and disposal of the bags, not taking into account litter and environmental pollution). It also concluded that Organic Cotton bags are the worst bag for the environment (out of all studied bags).
The long of the short of the study is that because cotton, especially organic cotton, is very land and water intensive to grow, along with the fact they are larger and heavier than plastic bags, they cost more to ship. So, by factoring the water use and the added fuel cost to move the bags they are less eco friendly than single use plastic bags. The article explained it in terms of uses of the bag to break even. A conventional cotton bag would need to be used 52 times to offset climate change effects and 7100 times to offset all environmental impacts. Organic Cotton is 149 times to offset climate change and 20000 times to offset all environmental impacts. (These number compare to the environmental impacts of 1 plastic bag).
The study by the Ministry of Environment and Food in Denmark, didn’t talk much about bamboo, hemp, linen and other wild growing plants. It is difficult for a study to be done on these materials growth impact, because it is unsure how much is harvested from the wild and how much is grown in a controlled environment, like a farm. Lets look at bamboo for a minute, bamboo is one of the fastest, if not the fastest, growing fiber in the world and it grows wild and on farms. Bamboo requires no additional irrigation and no fertilizers, making it extremely sustainable, but bamboo can be very misleading when it comes to how eco friendly it really is. Bamboo is made through two processes, first mechanical separation, much like cotton and linen, which is extremely eco friendly. Secondly, there is the viscose process, where chemicals are used to break down the bamboo into a pulp, which is then spun into fiber. There is very little control over the viscose process and the disposal of the chemicals used in it, there for viscose bamboo can ber very bad for the environment.
Reasons like the viscose process, makes us have to do our research to see how eco friendly the products we are buying actually are. This is also why we have decided not to use any viscose bamboo for any of our products, and why we have had all of our products third party tested, here in the USA, to confirm that the products we are selling are actually what we say they are.
Knowing that littering and ocean pollution was not taken into account in this study, it is important to put a value on the harm that is being done to ocean species because of plastic bags. To this extent I like this article on TheVerge.com. TheVerge.com talks about making a difference based on what you care about and feel is important. I.e. reducing plastic in the oceans and saving ocean life may be more important to you than the damage to the Ozone by incinerating worn out bags.
We have discussed this as a family many times and are trying to teach our son, that you need to do your part in helping the environment and animals in a way that you can actually make a difference. Every little bit is a step in the correct direction and it isn’t possible for one person to do it all by them self. By everyone doing their little part, together we will be able to make a huge impact on the health of the environment and all of the little creatures in it!
Thank you for reading and sharing this post.
Melissa, Matt, Owen, Lyca and Doc.
Here is a link to the study for reference: https://www2.mst.dk/Udgiv/publications/2018/02/978-87-93614-73-4.pdf
Here is a link to TheVerge.com article: https://www.theverge.com/2018/5/12/17337602/plastic-tote-bags-climate-change-litter-life-cycle-assessments-environment