At 10:18 AM 1/10/2008 -0500, you wrote: >......part deleted....so my questions really have to do with lesser of two >evils: >recyclable vs. biodegradable. or, if anyone knows of other bag >possibilities that would be great. i'm using reusable bags for the >actual delivery of the product, but cannot afford to do this for >marketing.
Dear Marlo and Friends--This is a thorny question and there is no easy answer. Is it at all possible to conduct Internet marketing or radio/TV and not use paper or plastic at all? I don't know what your product is, but I suppose that some of your desired market would not be reached by such methods, or perhaps this is too expensive for your marketing approach? "Biodegradable" is a relative term. Many items, including bags, that claim to be biodegradable actually have a significant petro-based plastic component that isn't degradable past a certain point. Even bags that are "compostable" are compostable only in a commercial, higher-temperature compost method and generally not in the home compost pile. I am not aware of any local or regional effort to "capture" and compost such bags from home use. Plastic bags can be recycled and the energy used to recycle plastic bags is relatively small compared to that used to make a plastic bag. There are many local opportunities for HDPE bags to be recycled--Wegmans has a particularly strong program, for example. If you decide to use plastic bags each bag should be clearly marked "Please Recycle This Bag". I suppose post-consumer content bags, like the kind used at Green Star are better than "virgin" HDPE bags, but even so, plastic is plastic--oil and energy from carbon-based fuels. So the lesser evil is.... well, really hard to say. I would use the plastic bags as long as the message to recycle is strong. How about cellophane bags, assuming there is such a thing? I'm probably confusing the decision rather than clarifying it, so I'll leave it up to you. Good luck with your project. Tom Tom Shelley 118 E. Court St. Ithaca, NY 14850 607 342-0864 [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.myspace.com/99319958 P I thank you for printing this e-mail only if it is necessary "Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs." The World Commission on Environment and Development, Gro Harlem Brundtland Our Common Future, Oxford University Press, 1987 MY NOTE: Sustainable development does not mean "sustainable growth" as growth per se is not sustainable. And the term "sustainable" has to mean "for a very long time" (A. Bartlett). "The frog does not drink up the pond in which he lives." Sioux proverb _______________________________________________ RSS, archives, subscription & listserv information for: [email protected] http://lists.mutualaid.org/mailman/listinfo/sustainabletompkins free hosting by http://www.mutualaid.org
