Paper or Plastic

When Staff says “paper or plastic” and the customer says “either one”, I’ve noticed the Staff gives plastic. Shouldn’t they give paper, even if more expensive?

Thank you for your comment.We don’t have a specific policy requiring that we recommend one type of bag over another in the situation you’re describing. There are a few reasons for this. Sometimes, employees make this decision based on what type of items need to be bagged (cold items, meat/prepared items that might have a risk of leaking, etc). Also,  the environmental footprint of both types of bags is actually quite complex. Paper bags have a higher carbon footprint and tend to get reused less often,while plastic bags take decades to break down. Both types of bags have poor environmental footprints for an item that is often only used once. The action that we try to encourage at the Co-op is getting people to bring reusable bags and move away from single-use disposable bags. 

 Here’s a link to an article I wrote about paper and plastic bags if you’d like more information: http://coopnews.coop/battle-of-the-bag-paper-or-plastic/