The other side of plastic bags

I was at the dentist yesterday for check up and cleaning. As always I got a goodie bag of tooth brush, floss, tooth paste, more floss... The little plastic bag, that I wanted to reject, had an environmental logo on it and was from EPI (www.epi-global.com). I looked it up. They claim to have found the solution to breaking down plastic bags and making them biodegradable. Of course, if you read their blog posts they make all other bags bad, especially reusable cotton and jute bags. Below are the links to those articles. 

A study in the UK found that plastic bags have a smaller ecological footprint than reusable bags, unless you use your reusable bag more than 51 times. Honestly, I don't know why I wouldn't and throw my reusable bags out? They last a long time, I have had mine for years.  I don't even have to worry that they rip apart while I walk home. The study also assumes paper bags are used once only. When I go to the bulk food store I take my paper bags with me to fill them with cereals, nuts, grains etc. You bet I use them more than once because they are sturdy, too. Then somewhere it says that there is a hell lot of plastic packaging around us any way so why make such a fuss over plastic bags. Because you have to start somewhere. Maybe one fine day we are all back to bulk stores and you bring your own containers. That will automatically reduce the amount of recycling, not to talk about the volume of landfills. Dream a little dream. The other article tells us that E.coli and other bacterias grow in reusable bags, a problem not occuring in plastic bags. Sure, it's a world full of idiots, isn't it. Did I have to mention that you should wash your bags once in a while? Also, didn't we just say that most of our food comes in plastic packaging already, so what's the issue? It's not that you put your bread, fruit, cheese, sausage etc. without any packaging into the tote bag. If you worry about those bacteria how can you eat anything out of a non-organic supermarket - it's full of  things that are bad for you! And ever wondered about the bacteria within the supermarket, ever noticed that supermarkets are quite dirty places. 


I bet people who love their one-time-use plastic bags will love those articles. I don't. They don't mention that your jute or cotton regrows but the oil for your plastic bag does not.Of course, you could take bets now what will disappear earlier - oil or land that is still capable of growing crops. If the latter wins, we'll starve to death in no time so we don't need plastic bags any longer.
   
 http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/green-living/plastic-fantastic-carrier-bags-not-ecovillains-after-all-2220129.html


http://epi-global.com/blog/epi/alternative-to-plastic-bags-sparks-widespread-health-concerns/