Hundreds of millions of paper and plastic disposable bags are handed out everyday at grocery, drug, and convenience stores across the U.S. While many consumers mistake these bags as being free (most retailers provide them to consumers with no transparent charge), they are anything but. U.S. retailers spend billions of dollars a year on disposable bags and pass this cost on to consumers in the form of higher prices for all goods. More importantly though, the manufacturing, transportation, disposal and recycling of these bags has significant negative impacts on our environment (greenhouse gases, pollution, litter, etc.) and consumes large amounts of valuable resources (oil, natural gas, timber, water, etc.), many of which are non-renewable.

Designed and manufactured for a "single-use", disposable bags are the antithesis of a sustainable product. While some people do reuse these bags for purposes other than getting goods home from the store, and therefore extend the value and reduce the costs of these bags, far more people throw them in the garbage. Countless plastic bags are hauled off to the local landfill where they remain for up to 1,000 years before breaking down. Even worse, many of these plastic bags end up littering our local communities or finding their way back into nature where they are a danger to wildlife. Simply put, our addiction to disposable bags is not sustainable and must be addressed. So next time you are asked "paper or plastic?", choose neither, go reusable.

Click here for more data on the usage of paper and plastic disposable bags and their impact on the environment.