This is a story that will please a lot of folks in plastics. The New York Times has a story on how canvas reusable shopping totes really aren’t all that sustainable after all.”An organic cotton tote needs to be used 20,000 times to offset its overall impact of production, according to a 2018 study by the Ministry of Environment and Food of Denmark. That equates to daily use for 54 years — for just one bag,” .Cotton, she continues, needs a lot of water in farming, reducing its ability to claim superior sustainability. The totes can’t be composted in municipal centers, and when they’re dyed or screen printed, they can’t be recycled without a time-consuming effort to cut out any portion of the bag with logos, and then reuse the cloth.Cook notes that the big reusable cotton tote bag trend began with a United Kingdom designer, Anya Hindmarch, who began selling the “I’m Not a Plastic Bag” tote with an environmental group in 2007.But that doesn’t mean environmentalists are suddenly going to embrace plastic bags.Weighing the two materials against each other, “we end up in an environmental what-about-ism that leaves consumers with the idea that there is no solution,” Melanie Dupuis, a professor of environmental studies and science at Pace University, told Cook.For what it’s worth, though, Hindmarch is making a , called “I Am a Plastic Bag.”  The University of Missouri is about to put 10 tons of recycled plastic into a roadway to test how well plastics will work in pavement.Roger McKinney of the Columbia Daily Tribune writes that Dow Inc. and the Missouri Department of Transportation are working with the university on the pilot project that could provide another life for plastics.The road surfacing program being studied can use most types of waste plastic, officials said. The 2-mile section of Stadium Boulevard .Dow CEO Jim Fitterling is a Missouri graduate who joined the chemical company two weeks after graduation 35 years ago.”Both this company and this university have been integral parts of my life. So I always appreciate the opportunity to bring the two together. But, even more than that, through this project, Mizzou and Dow are partnering on an innovative solution that will better our planet,” Fitterling said. Some of you may be aware of the social media platform Discord as a favorite hangout for video game players.Now it’s also being used to help companies connect.Senior reporter Frank Esposito has a story on how distributor has been in contact with more than 30 potential new customers through the platform.Owner Larry Welnowski told Frank that Discord can be “more specified” than other social media platforms such as LinkedIn and Twitter.  Do you have an opinion about this story? Do you have some thoughts you’d like to share with our readers? Plastics News would love to hear from you. Email your letter to Editor at Staying current is easy with Plastics News delivered straight to your inbox, free of charge. Subscribe to Plastics News Plastics News covers the business of the global plastics industry. We report news, gather data and deliver timely information that provides our readers with a competitive advantage.Customer Service: