less energy, less water. the big benefit here is that i can recycle this along with my paper waste. and even if i didn't, it would just take several years to break down instead of thousands of years. i can also feel that the bag is stronger than paper, albeit not quite as strong as plastic. clearly, though, this won't be able to replace all kinds of plastic. but another finnish alternative does have the tough, mouldable qualities needed for cosmetics or food. it's almost impossible to guess that these aren't plastic. it is only close—up that you can see its natural origins, and that is wood combine with natural binders and dyes. so our material biodegrades almost exactly the same time period as the same thickness of wood. microbes are able to eat our material and then our material biodegrades into c02, water and biomass.