By Colleen Rothe

As we approach the 38th year that Earth Day is celebrated, there’s a flurry of activity by companies to be seen as ‘green.’ Safeway is touting its new fleet of more fuel-efficient vehicles; Tully’s Coffee Co. is beating its chest over its announcement that all espresso beverages served in its stores will now be made exclusively with 100% Fair Trade Certified™ and Organic Espresso; and AT&T Wireless is partnering with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Keep America Beautiful to sponsor an enhanced recycling program for cell phones, batteries and accessories.

This “green washing,” as advertising executives and the media have so aptly termed it, is exactly that. It is their attempt to try to distract consumers from the truth. “Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain.” Or in this case: “Pay no attention to how we aren’t environmentally operating in other arenas.”

Personally, and I’m sure many others would agree, that I’m much more tolerable of companies who are trying their best to be earth-conscientious during their business processes when they say so. Tell me that you’re doing the best you can and you have goals – with deadlines.

As a part of the Earth Day “green washing,” there’s a lot of energy being expended at many of the grocery stores to eliminate plastic bags all together. My local QFC has a big yellow sign on the front door that says, “Did you remember your reusable bags?” I’ll admit that the bright reminder saved me one afternoon from leaving my reusable bags in the back of the car. Additionally, it’s easy to see that not having to purchase pallets and pallets of plastic bags will most definitely cut down on the stores overhead.

The grocer broadcasting the loudest about no plastic bags is Whole Foods. They had a big media event to say they were eliminating plastic bags from all of their stores. They encouraged their customers to bring reusable sack bags, which of course like other markets, they are offering for purchase in their stores. But the Wizard -of-Oz trick that Whole Foods is distracting its customers from is that either 1) they are so getting incentive from the paper bag manufacturers, or 2) they don’t realize that the 100 percent recycled bags they proclaimed they were using in their press release are only 40 percent post-consumer waste, which is what most paper bags are in the market – not just the Whole Food bags.

Many in the paper bag manufacturing world, especially its largest producer – Duro Bag Manufacturing Company – have this nation of consumers convinced that their product is more earth friendly. But, when you examine the facts, it’s not really that clear.

Plastic bags can be recycled, or as some are beginning to term it, down cycling, which means that the item is processed to be reused into something else. Recycling is using a product as is. But it’s true. Not only can plastic bags be re—err—down cycled, it costs an amazing 91 percent less to recycle equivalent weights of plastic than paper, and we all know that many more plastic bags can fit into the same weight lot than paper bags. Given that fact, the plastic “recycling” market is growing as consumers become more educated on what is really sustainable.

Plastic bags, made from natural gas, could also be considered more tree-friendly, because in the production of even post-consumer waste paper bags, manufacturers must require virgin wood to be part of the recycling process. Therefore you have to harvest more trees to recycle paper bags.

Also, it takes just under 40 percent less energy to make plastic bags, which generate about 80 percent less waste than paper sacks. Producing plastic bags also gives off about 60 percent less greenhouse gases compared to when paper ones are made.

Um…can someone please inform Whole Foods? Finding that out, took me about an hour of research. You mean to tell me they don’t have some overpaid corporate big-shot that couldn’t have provided that analysis. I guess they are more interested in “green washing.” If that’s not their point, I guess they just must think that all consumers believe everything their told.

Don’t think I’m not remembering the whole landfill thing. Not every consumer is very diligent about turning their plastic bags into something that’s reused, recycled and/or down cycled. Drive down any interstate and you’ll see plastic sacks blowing down the medians like urban tumbleweed. Paper bags can and will biodegrade. And that’s where the paper and plastic bags differ – in its organic sustainability. Sustainability is all about the cradle-to-grave journey of any particular product. This means tracing the origin of the resources that make-up the product to how it degrades. In this battle, paper bags win hands down.

So we come full circle to the fact that reusable cloth bags are the best option. And don’t be afraid to use whatever bags you have available. I’ve primed the ‘baggers’ at my local market to look at my shopping trips as a challenge, as I bring in not only some of the cloth bags I’ve purchased from the grocery store, but cloth bags I’ve gathered throughout the years from conferences, thrift stores, etc. If every one started using cloth bags as often as possible, my hope is that the overhead savings will off-set the increase in food prices due to the cost of fuel.

Americans know that being green conscience is the best way to look at our modern lives. But, they also need to have all the facts. Sometimes the facts tell us that two choices are both not the greatest. However, don’t just trust the man behind the curtain to convince you that all he’s doing is legitimate.