Inform yourself about bags!

Here are some little tidbits about the bags you have your groceries put in!

Facts About Plastic Bags

Plastic bags, the "urban tumbleweed." Estimates vary, but Americans use 14 billion-300 billion plastic bags annually at a huge energy cost. Plastic bags are made from oil, the same limited natural resource used to fuel vehicles, provide energy in many parts of the world and as a basic resource needed to keep machines of all kinds operable. Plastic bags also do not degrade in the landfill, rather they break up into little pieces over time. Dubbed the “urban tumbleweed,” plastics bags are a tremendous source of litter because they get caught in trees, clog waterways and storm drains, and are a cause of blight—all factors that cost cities resources in money, time, and quality of life.


Facts About Paper Bags

Plastic bags in trees.Paper bags consume another natural resource to produce them—trees. In 1999, 14 million trees were used to produce the 10 billion paper bags Americans used, according to the American Forest and Paper Association. Because paper bags are often used once and thrown away, the City of Roseville, CA (the source of this information was their website) along with other U.S. cities spends money, time, and landfill space to dispose of the waste caused by the use of paper bags. Sad, huh?