Paper or Plastic?

Most people think paper bags are more environmentally friendly than plastic bags. I learned that this is not the case when reading an article on the subject from treehugger.com, an environmental blog. I thought that paper bags would be more environmentally friendly because they are biodegradable, but what are paper bags made from? Wood. Where does wood come from? Trees. Therefore, paper bags are ultimately just another product of clear-cutting forests. Both paper and plastic bags can be recycled, but neither of the processes are simple and they both involve many harsh chemicals (not to mention fossil fuels to run the machinery and transport materials). Even the new "biodegradable" plastic bags aren't 100% biodegradable, so everyone's best bet would be to start using the reusable canvas grocery bags. From an energy standpoint, canvas bags work out to be better than both paper and plastic if used 500 times in their lifetime.