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Article: Dear EarthTalk: OK, once and for all, which is more environmentally friendly: paper or plastic at the grocery checkout? And didn't I just hear that San Francisco has banned plastic bags?
- Article from:
- EarthTalk: Questions & Answers About Our Environment. A Weekly Column
- Article date:
- September 9, 2007
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2007 Earth Action Network, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Dear EarthTalk: OK, once and for all, which is more environmentally friendly: paper or plastic at the grocery checkout? And didn't I just hear that San Francisco has banned plastic bags?--Brian, Santa Clara, CA
Yes the city of San Francisco did just recently ban plastic bags. Large supermarkets and pharmacies there must eliminate plastic shopping bags by early 2008 in favor of bags made from either paper or compostable and biodegradable cornstarch. The city's Board of Supervisors cited the fact that plastic bags are a challenge to recycle and as a result occupy much-needed landfill space, while causing litter problems by easily blowing into trees and waterways, ...