I think that everyone knows that to be environmentally conscious we should use reusable bags when we go to the grocery store.  I would like to say that this is what I do.  The truth is that most of the time I stop by the grocery store on the way home from somewhere else and didn’t put a reusable bag in my car.  That means that I am confronted with the question at the checkout: paper or plastic?  Today I chose paper.  And then I decided to do research.  It turns out that more energy goes into the making of and the recycling of paper bags, so plastic is the more energy efficient choice.  This was not the answer I was expecting to find.  There are negatives to plastic bags, including the well-known fact that the plastic almost never breaks down and can injure wildlife if it becomes litter.

Here are some sources:

A very concise view: HowStuffWorks

A long explanation from one of my favorite blogs: Treehugger

The New York Times weighs in: New Proposals Like Neither