Because you asked us…
Why Should You Lose That Plastic Bag?
“The average American family takes home almost 1,500 plastic shopping bags a year” (NRDC)
- According to the WorldWatch Institute, around 4-5 trillion plastic bags were created in 2002.
- According to a report in 2004, roughly 80 percent of those bags were used in North America and Western Europe. Every year, Americans reportedly throw away 100 billion plastic grocery bags. (WorldWatch Institute)
- Approximately only 1-3% of plastic bags are recycled every year.
- Millions of dollars per state are spent to properly recycle or dispose of plastic bags. (ecowatch)
- And in general, we only recycle 50% of the plastics we use. (ecowatch)
- Millions of barrels of oil are used to produce plastic each year in the United States alone. (EPA)
- The average family accumulates 60 plastic bags in only four trips to the grocery store.
- Plastic bags currently dominate commercial package markets. (National Geographic)
- The majority of the plastic bags from petroleum are not bio-degradable and take around 700-1000 years to just break down. (World Counts)
Paper Bags:
- Paper bags are able to decompose in a landfill.
- Papers bags take more energy to produce than it takes to produce plastic bags.
- Americans use around 10 billion paper bags each year, which is equal to cutting 14 million trees each year. (Earth911)
- It cost more to produce paper bags than it takes to produce plastic bags.
- The recovery rate for paper bags and sacks is around 50%. (EPA)
Tote Bags/Recyclable Bags:
- We use an estimated 4 trillion plastic bags per year globally. (https://www.earthday.org/)
- The total distribution of Tote bags has been steadily increasing.
- By using a tote bag, it is possible to save spaces that would have been occupied by thin plastic bags instead.
