Source
r/NoStupidQuestions•
ReNitty

what is better (or worse) for the environment? Using a zip lock plastic bag and throwing it out or using a Tupperware and washing it?

I bring lunch to work and usually bring some fruit as part of it. Sometimes this is something like berries that requires some kind of a container. Sometimes i put it in a zip lock or small sandwich bag, and sometimes i throw it in a small Tupperware.

I am unsure what is better or worse for the environment. On the one hand, with a plastic bag you are throwing out a bag, which is waste, but on the other hand with a tupperware or container, you have to wash it, which wastes water, and you need to use soap, which is a consumable product that has to be manufactured, packaged, and shipped.

I am wondering which of these has a worse impact on the environment

Posted Jun 16, 2022, 3:30 PM UTC

15
mugenhunt•

Washing the Tupperware is much better for the environment than disposable ziplock bags.

4
akulowaty•

Single use plastic thing will always be worse than anything reusable.

3
[deleted]•

[deleted]

1
Rude-Asparagus9726•

Definitely the ziplocks. Plastics are not only terrible for the environment, they also take up to 1000 years to decompose. And even then, they decompose into microplastics which continue to pollute the environment indefinitely.

1
The_Potatotoasks and answers dumb questions•

Reusable containers are more eco-friendly, since the main resource and energy consuming part isn't the cleaning but the production.

For the bags new plastic needs to be made, even if recycled plastic is added. The remaking of plastic also consumes a lot of energy. Additionally: The new bags need to be packaged and shipped before you can buy them.

1
turnipturnipturnip2•

Just think

Reduce Reuse Recycle

By using the tupperware you reduce the amount of plastic used because it only gets manufactured once, rather than needing multiple bags over time.

Reusing the container means it doesent need to be manufactured a second, third, fourth time etc.

If you recycle it if it breaks it means they can make somthing else out of it without having to drill and process more oil into plastic and transport it etc.

1