Bagging The Plastic Shopping Bag
Now that common grocery store refrain, "paper or plastic," is about to get a whole lot shorter.
This spring, all 270 Whole Foods Markets nationwide are bagging the plastic bag, CBS News correspondent Ben Tracy reports.
When she comes to the grocery store, what kind of bag does shopper Sue Chor use?
"You know, I do get a plastic bag," she said.
Shoppers like Chor pick plastic for its convenience.
"I like the way the plastic feels. And I can carry it better," she said. "It's more friendly."
But not exactly environmentally friendly. Experts say a family of four uses nearly 1,500 plastic bags each year. Less than 1 percent of those are recycled.
"Americans discard over 100 billion plastic bags per year," said Marci Frumkin of Whole Foods.
Bags often end up in rivers, oceans, or landfills, where they can take up to 1,000 years to decompose.
So, nationwide a growing movement against the plastic bag is being carried out.
The cities of San Francisco and Oakland have banned them. More than a dozen others are considering doing the same.
But some environmental groups fear this is just trading one evil for another. Making paper bags consumes millions of trees and it actually takes more energy to make paper bags than plastic.
For a more complete list, check out Ben Tracy's post on Couric & Co. blog.
Plastic bag manufacturers say we don't need a bag ban. We need to recycle more.
"We recycle 650 million pounds of plastic a year into things like additional bags and fencing and decking," said Keith Crismon of the American Chemistry Council.
For some, it's no longer about paper or plastic. It's a reusable bag.
"I have dozens of the reusable ones but I forget to bring them," said one shopper.
Which is why a solution to this environmental problem is far from in the bag.
