100 Billion A Year:
Paper & plastic bag facts

Consumption

The average family accumulates 60 plastic bags in only four trips to the grocery store.

In the US, 100 billion disposable shopping bags are consumed a year. This is 200,000 bags per minute!

14 million trees were cut down to produce paper shopping bags in 1999.

Environmental Impact

Grocery bags use a large amount of energy and natural resources to be produced and transported.

Paper and plastic bags fill landfills.

Plastic bags often are blown over long distances and harm wildlife when animals mistake them for food.

Recycling requires additional energy for collection and processing. Only 1% of plastic bags are recycled. It is better to avoid non-reusable bags in the first place.

Paper or Plastic?

NEITHER is better. In fact, plastic bags take less energy to be manufactured and recycled. Plastic is thinner and lighter and fills up less landfills. Paper bags that end up in landfills do not biodegrade because nothing biodegrades in a modern landfill for lack of water, light and oxygen. Still, plastic bags pose a significant threat to wildlife.

The only answer to this question is to bring your own reusable bag to every shopping trip!