Ingrid Callot: Paper Bags vs. Plastic Bags

From Ingrid Callot December

From Ingrid Callot December

My name is Ingrid Callot, and I long to one day meet Martha Stewart, Oprah Winfrey, and the Dalai Lama. In my dreams, the four of us go trick-or-treating on Halloween, with me as Betty Boop, the Dalai Lama dressed as Super Saiyan Goku, Martha as Marilyn Monroe, and Oprah as Whoopi Goldberg. I wonder how much candy we’d get.

From Ingrid Callot December

Last Christmas, my family and I made a vow to live green. We began favoring reusing and recycling over buying new things, eating only local produce, avoiding the purchase of detergents and substances that have toxic chemicals, refraining from using and buying things made out of plastic, and composting our organic waste.

From Ingrid Callot December

One day, my friend Edgardo pointed out that my environmentalism was still problematic. “Ingrid Callot, you are hopeless,” he said, cocking his head from side to side. “You ban all plastic bags, but you’re using these paper bags, which is worse.”

“Edgardo Versoza,” I said. “I use paper bags for a reason. They’re perfectly recyclable and biodegradable and hold more stuff than plastic bags can ever carry.”

“Call me when you graduate from being an entry-level environmentalist,” he said, before walking out.

From Ingrid Callot December

From Ingrid Callot December

Puzzled, I Googled “paper plastic environment,” and felt my jaw drop. According to an article from Treehugger, the best choice was neither paper nor plastic, but reusable canvas bags. A study showed that canvas bags, when used 500 times during their life cycle, are 14 times better than plastic, and 39 times better than paper on a range of aspects including the amount of energy used in manufacturing, environmental damage caused in production, and reuse as well as recycling rates.

With that, I dialed Edgardo’s number to invite him to go shopping for a reusable canvas shopping bag.

From Ingrid Callot December

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