What I generally use:
… no idea what the impact is but they are long lasting.
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The persistence of plastic in the ecosystem after disposal is really the primary issue with disposable plastic. Cotton decomposes in suitable landfill conditions in less than a year. Disposable plastic just breaks down into smaller pieces and does a lot of damage to the environment cycling through food chains potentially for thousands of years. Any accurate assessment of environmental impact should take into account the material’s impact after disposal.
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When we stop using GDP as an indicator of economic health, when we change the fuel source of airliners, cargo ships, & long haul trucks, when we stop the ever continuing military buildup, when china stops burning coal, when people stop enjoying beef as food. When these thing happen I will believe humans are serious about climate change. Until such time it remains difficult for me to feel like my personal actions have much, if any, effect.
Headline be damned, I feel the largest tangible personal impact for improving our environment is the choice to consume less single use disposable plastic.
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Right. One of the many stupid things about this article is that it seems to assume that you are specifically buying organic cotton bags, rather than using ones that already exist.
Use a cotton bag once/week for a year & it will have “paid off”.
Last time I forgot my bag, the groceries that would have fit in my one (largish, sturdy) bag were spread out in 8 single use plastic bags. Some of that is bagger training, but a lot is that those bags aren’t sturdy.
So, my bags win after 7 trips to the store. And I’ve been using them for probably a decade at least.
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I have two cloth bags that I’ve used for the past 25 years. For groceries, transporting items to friends houses and even used repeatedly while on road trips and camping. Each of these bags hold better than twice the quantity of groceries as a plastic bag and have never torn open spilling my goodies everywhere. I have no reason to believe they will not last for another 25 years.
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Being as someone without a car… Backpacks.
Infinitely easier to carry than normal bags but somewhat limited capacity.
Backpack + canvas bags seems a great option 
Stick the heavy stuff in a backpack and you can carry a suprising amount on foot/bike.
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The ocean trash patch (and general ocean plastic pollution) is mainly micro-plastics. For North America, these are overwhelmingly produced by car tyres and road markings wearing out. Where do you think the tread off your worn out car tyres went? Oh, and the particulates produced by car tyres wearing out are bad for our health when we breathe them in, too.
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I did the backpack thing myself for quite some time (also because of a lack of a car). At the time i didn’t think to get cotton or canvas bags though. But having a car now i am thinking that putting a basket or bin in the car is not that bad of an idea, usually when i put the groceries in my trunk they inevitably end up tipping over no matter how careful i drive.
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Dont have kids?
Eliminating the human race is a bit extreme, ill stick to reusing cardboard boxes and turning off the water while soaping up…
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So…why would you use organic cotton for shopping bags? If the goal is making reusable bags then all materials should be on the table. It actually seems like a good application for a non-biodegradable fabric that can be washed.
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But the cotton can be recycled too.
Into shiny new banknotes.
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Given the massive variables in this study (ranging from 52x to 7100x isn’t exactly a “results may vary” error), the lack of impact studies on the actual environment being included, and the conclusion that putting single use, non recyclable plastic in landfills is a recommended way of life, I think it’s safe to say that this study is so massively flawed as to be discarded entirely. Unlike a cotton bag, which I will keep using.
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Given the update to this post Reminds:52x vs 7100x perhaps the boing boing headline is a little missleading. May I suggest “Non Peer reviewed study into environmental impact incredibly missleading”
The update is great but your summary of this news start with your headline.
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Cory: Please, please, please edit the headline of this article. As Arthur Yip’s analysis shows, this is not an appropriate way to interpret the results of this study. These ridiculously high numbers refer only to impact on ozone, which as Arthur points out is negligible in both cases. And as the study completely ignores the impact of waste plastic in the environment, which is the whole reason to avoid using them in the first place, the results are largely irrelevant. By leaving the headline up, you’re contributing to the ongoing misrepresentation of this study - for example your completely misleading headline shows up in the top 5 google hits on searches to do with “Danish Life Cycle Assessment of grocery carrier bags”
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Yeah, this seem like a misleading headline, and it kind of buries the lead.
Plastic bags are dangerous. They are killing whales. They should be banned.
Canvas bags are not perfect. But they tend to go to landfills, they don’t fly high into the air and land in the oceans.
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http://www.plasticbagcrafts.com/make-plarn/
I have crocheted two large tote bags with plastic yarn made using this tutorial. These totes are quickly approaching a decade in age, but show no signs of decay. The bags I used were just sitting in the collection bins we have for such things, most were not in decent enough shape for other reuses.
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That will no doubt be sufficient to spare your progeny from the ravages of climate change. Thanks for your sacrifice.
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[nitpick]I believe you meant “buries the lede” ^^’…[/nitpick]
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