The Harm of Paper Bags

The Harm of Paper Bags

            Paper bags come from lots and lots of trees. Companies like Weyerhaeuser and Plum Creek Timber harvest them. Kimberly Clark also harvests them. The paper bags have to go through a long process to get to the grocery store, but using paper bags can be very damaging to the environment because of all the different processes that it has to go through before it is a final product. First the trees are found, and then they have to be marked for felling. This causes the land to undergo clear cutting, which in turn, harms the land tremendously.

            Then, to extract the trees from the landscape, big machines have to come in, which damage the terrain and consume fossil fuels, which in turn harm the environment terribly. After collection, the trees have to dry for three years before they can be stripped and then processed by more machinery and chemicals. What is amazing though, is after the trees are boiled down to pulp, it takes 3 tons of wood to make 1 ton of pulp.

The pulp is then washed and bleached and coloring is added to make the paper bag seem colorful later on. The pulp is then dumped onto metal wire structures and then it is rolled into paper. This is how paper bags come into existence and it is obvious that the entire process is very harmful to the environment, thus making paper bags a poor choice.

Source:

http://www.treehugger.com/files/2008/07/paper-bags-or-plastic-bags-everything-you-need-to-know.php