The Folly of Plastic Bags

“Paper or Plastic?”  Such a familiar question, and yet how many people stop to consider the environmental impact of utilizing such a common product as a plastic bag?  To understand the extent of their impact upon the planet, it is important to understand the process by which they are made.

Plastic bags are typically made from oil, and are a by-product of the oil-refining process.  Electricity constitutes the biggest energy input in the plastic bag creation process, which normally comes from coal-burning power plants at least 50% of the time. Electricity heats the oil so that it can be separated into various components and then molded into polymers. Plastic bags most often come from polyethylene in its low-density form (LDPE), also known as #4 plastic.  The good news about #4 plastic is that it can be recycled, but the process isn’t simple or easy. Recycling essentially involves repeated the above process, although manufacturing the recycled plastic requires two-thirds of the energy used in virgin plastic manufacturing. The trade-ff is that the end product is a lower-quality plastic and is not suitable for use in some products.  This phenomenon is called “downcycling” where it loses its viability and functionality as a raw material through the process of recycling.

What about biodegradable plastic bags?

Biodegradable plastic is a mixof polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) and Polylactide (PLA), which are completely biodegradable in compost, but not nearly as earth-friendly as you’d think when they’re in a landfill.  Bioplastics are made primarily from corn, and are thus not a complete solution to petroleum-based plastics, because corn is rife with agro-political conflict and often grown and harvested unsustainably.

Some bags marked “biodegradable” are not actually so — they’re a mix of recycled plastic and cornstarch. The cornstarch biodegrades and the plastic breaks down into tiny little pieces but does not actually “biodegrade,” leaving a nasty mess that contributes to the Great Pacific Garbage Patch and damages the environment.

The best alternative?  Don’t use plastic bags at all.  Canvas bags are sturdy, have a much greater carrying capacity than those thin bags from the grocery store, and they’re 100% reusable.

Fly Fishing Chest Packs – Mesh Or Cloth

When it comes to selecting one of the many fly fishing chest packs available on the market, you are going to have to first figure out how much gear you want to carry. Once you have determined this, you will need to figure out what type of fabric you are going to need your vest to be made from, to ensure that you are comfortable on your day trips. The last thing you want is to become impatient and irritable while you are on the water, because you will lose your patience and won’t be able to properly focus on locating the fish.

There are 2 main types of fabric used for fly fishing vests, either mesh, or cloth. Depending on where you go fishing at the most, or the types of conditions that you go fishing in, one is going to have more benefits over the other. For instance, if you are fishing in colder water, and cold weather, you are going to want to purchase a full chest pack that is made of cloth, to help keep the heat in your upper body. Make sure that you buy the vest a few sizes to large, to ensure that you can still get your winter clothing underneath it.

If you fish during the summer only, or are blessed with year round warm water fishing conditions, then you can get away with purchasing a mesh fly fishing vest. These vests allow for airflow which in turn helps to release your excess body heat, keeping you from sweating and becoming irritable. As you can see, finding the right vest among the sea of fly fishing chest packs on the market isn’t all that hard, and as long as you think about the type of fishing you will be doing, you will have a much simpler buying process.