Plastic vs. Paper, which one will be more respectful of our environment? Both plastic and paper play an important role in today's society. Every time you go shopping at the supermarket, the cashier will ask you if you want a plastic or paper bag. People can think of many different ways to choose the plastic or paper bag. Some people may think that this type of bag can be easily reused at home. In the end, most people may not care about any type of bag, whether plastic or paper. All they want to do is have a bag for the food they bought. Do you think you make the right decision every time when choosing the bag for shopping or any other garbage? The first plastic was created by Alexander Parkes in 1856. He invented a lithe material called Parkesine that produces multiple mixtures of nitrocellulose, alcohols, camphor, and oils that expand the first plastic, celluloid. It was an anatomical device imitating cellulose that could be shaped once heated, and the shape would remain the same once cooled. Later, he openly demonstrated to the world the first public plastic at the Great International Exhibition of 1862 in London. Openly demonstrating this first public plastic, for which he was awarded a metal award. However, paper has a longer history than plastic. Paper was invented by the Chinese court official Ts' ai Lun in China, in 105 AD. Paper was thin, ribboned, shaped, flat, made in molds penetrable by permeated piles of vegetables. When the Chinese first discover how paper is made, many countries want to know how the Chinese make paper, but the Chinese refuse to tell anyone their secret. Although the Chinese want to keep paper production a secret, however p...... half of paper ......making paper from wood pulp is a chemically intensive activity and affects the environment." However, it creates as much as 50 times the pollution of water. All paper and plastic manufacturing processes may degrade slowly due to the way it is usually produced , it takes a few months, but it is possible that you can still find 50 year old newspapers in landfills. (Thomas) However, plastic still takes longer to degrade which could be reused in our environment. Furthermore, plastic will only break down small pieces and it will fly everywhere in the air. According to the article “Plastic Bags vs. Paper Bags” Thomas states that “recycling a plastic bag requires 91% less energy. than recycling a paper bag."