Paper Or Plastic? Packaging Goes Green (broadcast Friday, July 13th, 2007)

Ira discusses green packaging with Jane Bickerstaffe, director of the Industry Council for Packaging and the Environment (INCPEN) and Nicole F. Smith, environmental director of Design & Source Productions, Inc. See what tree-free paper looks like and find out whether biodegradable plastics have a future. (Credits: Studio footage by Joshua Romero. Video produced by Flora Lichtman.) See More Videos

In this segment, we face the age old question of "paper, or plastic?" You could use paper made from stone instead of trees or plastic made from canola oil. But if you trade in your paper and plastic bags and your bottles for biodegradable packaging, how eco-friendly will you really be? Ira talks with guests about packaging science and the quest to make greener containers for the products we buy and use. We'll talk with researchers making sustainable paper and plastics, and find out how U.S. efforts to switch to Earth-friendly packaging would measure up in Europe.