Reusable grocery bags, food-service containers, and cutlery are better for the environment than single-use alternatives, even those that are compostable, concluded a comprehensive study published in the journal Microplastics.  

Researchers made some surprising discoveries, including that paper grocery bags and compostable food-service containers are worse for the environment than plastic bags and Styrofoam containers.

Overall, the study's authors found single-use packaging of all kinds to be so harmful to the environment and human health that they recommended governments consider an outright ban. 

"[An] informed and well-researched ban should be considered on all single-use products, not just those made of plastic material," the study concluded.

Inspired by Canada's ban on single-use plastic packaging, researchers from the University of Guelph's School of Engineering in Ontario set out to better understand the environmental impacts of various products and their packaging. 

"This study evaluates the life cycle of banned plastic products and their alternatives to determine whether environmental impacts can be mitigated," the study's authors wrote. "The environmental impacts of bags (plastic, paper, cotton), cutlery (plastic, wooden, biodegradable), and containers (plastic, styrofoam, biodegradable) were determined."

Researchers aimed to incorporate all aspects of an item's lifecycle, including manufacturing and transport.

The study determined that a large portion of the environmental impact of single-use plastic packaging and cutlery occurred during manufacturing. Perhaps more surprisingly, the researchers found the same to be true for biodegradable alternatives. 

Compostable cutlery, for example, ranked worse than plastic in terms of ozone depletion and eutrophication. (Eutrophication occurs when a body of water becomes oversupplied with nutrients.) 

The study highlighted the need to transition away from single-use products and packaging and toward reusable alternatives. 

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The authors cited a prior study that found a reusable bag only needed to be used between three and 10 times to have a lower environmental impact per use than any form of single-use bag.

"Reusable products often have a high upfront cost in comparison to their single-use or disposal  [sic] counterparts, but over time (depending on the product), reusable products become less expensive as cost per use decreases," University of Guelph researchers wrote. 

According to the Ocean Conservancy, each year, over 12 million tons of plastic pollution enter Earth's oceans, adding to the estimated 220 million tons of plastic waste already circulating in the planet's waterways.

With microplastic pollution representing such a daunting environmental and public health hazard, governments like Canada's have justifiably focused on reducing single-use plastic waste. 

However, the University of Guelph study serves as a reminder of the need to reduce the use of all single-use products, not just plastic ones.

The study also confirms that reusable bags, containers, and cutlery do provide significant environmental benefits compared to single-use alternatives.

By incorporating these lessons into everyday life, you can significantly reduce your environmental impact while also saving money, rather than literally throwing your money away on single-use products. 

Finding ways to use less plastic and repurpose containers and packaging not only prevents waste from ending up in landfills or oceans, but it also reduces the demand for new single-use products.

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