Plastic bags: Global villain or overblown enemy?

I hate to say it, but I’m thinking plastic grocery bags are the latter, an overblown enemy.

Yes, plastic bags are dependent on the non-renewable petroleum industry. Yes, they do hurt marine animals and add to litter problems. That’s all bad. Yes, we should bring reusable bags to the grocery store to decrease the need for more new plastic bags.

But shouldn’t we, as level-headed Eco Geeks, keep things in perspective?

Last week, I learned that, according to the Institute for Lifecycle Environmental Assessment, plastic bags are better than paper because they are lighter and use less energy during their entire life cycle.

Then, yesterday, my longtime enviro-buddy, Gary Burke of Olympia, shared this devil’s-advocate look at plastic bags from the London Times.

What do you think? Have we gone off the plastic bag deep end when other, more important eco-problems persist?

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