Why Bring Your Own Bag?

Start a habit you'll be proud to flaunt: remember your own bags every time you go to the store. It's one simple way to go green in your daily life. And when people see you're making the right choice, they're likely to do it too.


Some paper & plastic statistics:

  • Each year the United States consumes 30 billion plastic and 10 billion paper grocery bags, requiring 14 million trees1 and 12 million barrels of oil.2
  • The pulp and paper industry is the 2nd largest industrial user of energy in the U.S.3
  • More than 46,000 pieces of plastic contaminate each square mile of our oceans.4
  • Over 100,000 marine animals die every year from plastic entanglement.5
  • Only 1% of plastic bags are recycled annually.6

Solutions from around the world:

Alaska:

    • 30 communities have instituted bans on the distribution of non-biodegradable plastic bag

    Australia:

    • The government and Australian Retailers Association agreed to reduce plastic bag use by 25 percent by 2004 and 50 percent by 2005;
    • Created a kit for retailers to assist them in reducing plastic bag use and ad campaigns educating shoppers about alternatives;
    • The 2 leading supermarkets in Australia, Coles Myer Ltd and Woolworths Pty Ltd, have both sold over 5 million reusable bags each.
    • Is considering a tax on single-use HDPE bags (#2 high density polyethylene, the plastic used for most checkout bags).

    Dhaka, Bangladesh:

    • Banned polyethylene bags after they clogged drains and worsened floods; and
    • Is planning to extend the ban nationwide.

    Bhutan:

    • Vendors caught handing out plastic bags face losing their business license.

    Denmark:

    • Plastic bag tax is twice that for paper bags, with both paid by retailers upon purchase; and
    • Consumption of paper and plastic bags has declined by 66 percent.

    Ireland:

    • 15 cent fee per bag on retail customers;
    • Raised 23 million euros for green fund to support waste reduction;
    • 90 percent reduction in bag use since introduction of levy; and
    • Plastic bags as part of the litter stream reduced from 5 percent to .3 percent.

    Mumbai (formerly Bombay), India:

    • Fines on factories and stores for making and using plastic bags;
    • Outdoor markets are not allowed to use plastic bags and instead provide recycled paper bags; and
    • Prohibits bags thinner than 20 microns (as does Delhi, Maharashtra and Kerala) to discourage use.

    San Francisco:

    • Ban on traditional plastic bags

    South Africa:

    • Government threat of a ban led to a plastic bag fee paid by manufacturers and appearing on shopper’s receipts.
    • Banned all plastic bags thinner than 30 microns

    Switzerland:

    • Requires supermarkets to charge 15-20 cents per paper bag; and
    • The majority of shoppers bring their own reusable bags.
    • Bans free distribution of plastic bags and food service ware by government agencies, schools, restaurants, supermarkets and other stores; and

    Taiwan:

    • Bans free distribution of plastic bags and food service ware by government agencies, schools, restaurants, supermarkets and other stores; and
    • Ban has resulted in a 69 percent drop in the use of plastic products
    1. “Paper or Plastic?”, Delicious Living Magazine, March 2002.
    2. Reusable Bags Tackle Plastic Bag Mess, Organic Trade Association.
    3. “Paper Cuts: Recovering the Paper Landscape”, Abromovitz & Mattoon,Worldwatch Institute, Washington DC, 1999.
    4. Keep the Sea Plastic Free, Bin It, Australian Government, Department of the Environment and Heritage
    5. Turtles Don't Shop, Earth Resource Foundation.
    6. Plastic Bags: A Necessary Eyesore?, Worldwatch Institute.