Paper or Plastic?

You should have seen the cashier's face when I offered my first customer this choice. At this go green, eco-friendly store, we no longer offer the choice of plastic or paper. Paper is all you get regardless of the weather. Yes, even during a rain storm. When I rushed home to do some research (just in case they ask for my opinion in the break room), I learned that even my home city banned plastic bags to save the environment.

When did this all happen?

The proud citizens of the United States make up 6% of the population but take up about 50% of the world's waste, so part of my job description is to frown at customers that ask for plastic, compliment customers that bring their own bags, and think before throwing anything away. Recycle? Compost? Trash? Reusable? Green bin? Blue bin? Yellow? Black? But I vow to keep perspective with this whole plastic versus paper discussion just in case the USDA or FDA or USHD or UPS change it on me overnight. You never know what tomorrow may bring. Paper may be the next evil. What if it's injected with salmonella, or cancerous when exposed to the sun? (That didn't go over too well in the break room.)

Are plastic bags sacking the environment, or is it just another fad? I'm unsure, but I think I'm going to order me a few of those fashionable reusable bags the next time I shop for groceries to score a few points with my Head supervisor and fellow face pierced and tattoo-covered colleagues.

That brings me down to only two simple ways to categorize people: Paper or plastic?