HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0064.140 2010-2012PLEASE DO NOT PASS THE LAW THAT
WOULD BAN ALL PLASTIC BAGS ON THE
BIG ISLAND
I HAVE SENT A COPY OF A CNET NEWS ARTICLE ABOUT
THE TECHNICALLY INCORRECT ASSUMTION THAT
BANNING PLASTIC BAGS WOULD MAKE THE
ENVIRONMENT CLEANER AND MORE ENVIRONMENTALLY
SAFER.PLEASE READ AND DO MORE RESEARCH BEFORE
MAKING ANY CONCLUSIONS.
THANK YOU
ERNIE R. CUDE
2
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Are plastic bags actually greener than paper? Technically Incorrect - CNET News
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Technically Incorrect
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Are plastic bags actually greener than
paper?
by Chris Matyszczyk
161 share 96
I find certainty a little dubious.
submit
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A M. MA
Are plastic bags actually greener than paper? ( 1 echnically incorrect - l;Nt 1 News
The researchers made a very simple conclusion —that plastic bags are greener because
they're far lighter.
rage ior3
Here's what I find slightly curious about this study: it hasn't been published yet. Even
though it was reportedly presented a year ago. It is still being reviewed by peers, although
the U.K. Environment Agency promises it will see encounter the public eye soon.
The agency also created a frisson of excitement when it told the Independent that the
reviewers "questioned some aspects of the original draft, although much was about
emphasis and balance."
I am sure there will be many emphatic, balanced, and sober scientists all over the world
who will await this report with some glee.
The plastic bag has been such a universally useful invention that it would be a shame to see
it disappear. It can hold so much of your life in one eminently foldable item. It can even
keep your when you've been kicked out of an apartment and are
walking the streets in despair — mostly dry.
To merely imagine that it might be greener than all the items barkingly suggested by the
Green Police might give some curious hope for the future. I know there are many who
crave the days when, after being asked "paper or plastic ?" they were proud to say the latter.
Chris Matyszczyk
Like 646 Full Profile E -mail Chris Matyszczyk
Chris Matyszczyk is an award - winning creative director who advises major corporations
on content creation and marketing. He brings an irreverent, sarcastic, and sometimes
ironic voice to the tech world. He is a member of the CNET Blog Network and is not an
employee of CNET.
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httpi /news.cnet.com/8301 -17852 3- 20034406- 71.html? par t= rss&subj= news&tag=2547 -1... 2/21 /2011
Are plastic bags actually greener than paper? I Technically Incorrect - CNI:T News Page 2 of 5
Somehow, nothing has ever seemed that certain on this earth, so when people—especially
scientists or green activists —claim they know everything, my skeptical muscle goes all
Cirque du Soleil.
So please raise an eyebrow with me to a stimulating article in the Independent
newspaper. It reveals the existence of a report, commissioned by the U.K. government,
that concludes that plastic bags are actually less harmful to the environment than either
paper or cotton versions.
I know that doesn't sound right, does it? I live the merest gust of wind away from San
Francisco, where plastic bags are banned. I have always been told that paper is green,
recyclable, and the finest way we can make use of the Amazon forest
So how could it be that high - density polythene is actually greener?
Might they be greener after all?
(Credit: CC Katerha/Flickr)
Well, this report, created by Chris Edwards and Jonna Meyhoff Fry at the behest of the
U.K. Environment Agency, reportedly says that ordinary plastic bags are 200 times more
climate - friendly than those cotton carriers favored by so many environmentalist preachers.
If that isn't exciting enough for you to question your precepts and sanity, the report also
reportedly claims that these put- upon, downtrodden plastic carriers emit one -third of the
carbon dioxide of paper bags.
httpi /news cn .com /8301 -17852 3- 20034406 -7l.hl m1?pa t=iss &subj= news&tag- 2547 -1... 2/21/2011