A new study shows that replacing plastics with alternatives would be “worse for greenhouse gas emissions in most cases.”
Replacing plastic straws, bags and containers has been all the rage but have we stopped to think about whether or not the alternatives are better? In most cases they’re not. California saw emissions go up when they switched to paper bags because…trees. Studies show that paper straws have FAR more harmful chemicals than plastic straws. Do we do these things without thinking? Apparently we do.
In the plastic alternative study, researchers considered the emissions from “production, transportation, use, and end-of-life disposal, including landfilling, incineration, recycling, and reuse. Calculating the product life cycles, plastic products release 10 percent to 90 percent fewer emissions than do plausible alternatives—often because it takes less energy to make and transport them,” according to Reason.com.
Maybe we should have done this math before making such major social changes!?
