Paper bag, against the plastic bag, who wins the match of the greenest product? And if we add the canvas bag, the “tote bag”, into the equation, which wins the prize for the greenest product? Pierre Rouvière, engineer and creator of the Instagram account “Eco, my ass! » and Barnabé Crespin-Pommier, writer, answer in this episode of our news podcast ” Wait a minute ! “. They are the co-authors of Ecolo, my ass! 14 daily dilemmas to go beyond ecological bullshitto Eyrolles editions (19 euros), an “anti-greenwashing book to no longer be one, a pigeon at the mercy of marketing”.
The “disposable” bag, that’s the problem
The eco-friendly paper bag? “To answer this question, underlines Pierre Rouvière in this interview, we have to go back to what an environmental impact is, and to compare the environmental impact of two solutions. Are paper bags more environmentally friendly? I answer: “not necessarily!”. You have to look at the function that this bag fulfills for the user. (…) To transport the same volume of shopping, we will have to use a lot more paper than plastic. However, we had to produce it, cut down trees, shape this paper…”
It is therefore important, notes the engineer, to take into account “the entire life cycle” of a product to measure its environmental impact. “For a paper bag, you will have to consume more energy, more materials, more water, this will have an impact on climate change, compared to the disposable plastic bag”.
Pierre Rouvière does not however promote the plastic bag. “When we talk about bags, we see the weakness of policies on these issues. (…) We replace disposable plastic with disposable paper. While the stake is on the disposable! “, he adds. “The most interesting solution from an environmental point of view”, according to the creator of “Ecolo, my ass!” »: the good old shopping bag that we use every time we go shopping.
Listen to the rest of this exchange, on the interest (or not) of canvas bags, the question of the volume of objects in our homes, in the audio player above! Good listening.
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