Sustainability Tradeoffs

One of the most frustrating things about trying to be green is having to constantly deal with the question of "paper or plastic?" Of course I mean that in the broadest way possible because of course the answer to that is "the reusable bag you bring yourself."

For instance, is it better to recycle a plastic shopping bag or use it to pick up dog poop (which means it ends up in the trash)? Is it better to use a plastic bag to line a recycle bin or to use no bag but have to "spend" water to clean the bin occasionally?

Sorry to say I don't have a great answer for the question. How do you make these types of decisions?