
Uniqlo to switch from plastic to paper bags worldwide from Sept - Ultramanoid
https://japantoday.com/category/business/uniqlo-to-switch-from-plastic-to-paper-bags-worldwide-from-sept.
======
ryeights
Regular reminder: paper bags are less environmentally friendly than plastic
bags

> _It takes more than four times as much energy to manufacture a paper bag as
> it does to manufacture a plastic bag._ [...] The majority of paper bags are
> made by heating wood chips under pressure at high temperatures in a chemical
> solution. The use of these toxic chemicals contributes to both air
> pollution, such as acid rain, and water pollution. These chemicals can
> pollute waterways; the toxicity of the chemicals is long-term and settles
> into the sediments, working its way through the food chain. Further toxicity
> is generated as both plastic and paper bags degrade. _Paper bags generate
> 70% more air and 50 times more water pollutants than plastic bags._

[http://www.niassembly.gov.uk/globalassets/documents/raise/pu...](http://www.niassembly.gov.uk/globalassets/documents/raise/publications/2011/environment/3611.pdf)

Paper bags have to be reused 3 times in order to be as environmentally
friendly as a single-use plastic bag; if you reuse your plastic bags as trash
can liners, that number increases to 7 reuses.

[https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/...](https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/291023/scho0711buan-
e-e.pdf)

~~~
Ultramanoid
Uniqlo's paper bags are quite nice and useful and you can see people reusing
them quite a bit. For us at home, one of them certainly lasts several months
at least, with all kinds of uses.

[https://media.karousell.com/media/photos/products/2017/12/14...](https://media.karousell.com/media/photos/products/2017/12/14/lf_urgent_uniqlo_xmas_season_paper_bag_1513234157_faae30ce.jpg)

Also :

> _On September 1, stores in 12 markets worldwide will begin using eco-
> friendly paper bags made of FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) certified
> recycled paper..._

[https://www.highsnobiety.com/p/uniqlo-reusable-
bags/](https://www.highsnobiety.com/p/uniqlo-reusable-bags/)

Several years ago, Uniqlo also introduced a program to collect used clothes in
their stores, both for donation and recycling.

You could do worse than this company is doing.

We're already literally breathing, eating, drinking, and pooping plastic. Time
to stop using it.

