Plastic bags and packaging account for a major part of our waste in landfills. Plastic bags are one of the top items of litter on our community beaches, roads, sidewalks, and green spaces. Because of their light weight, plastic bags fly easily in the wind, float along readily in the currents of rivers and oceans, block the drainage of water, and get tangled up in trees, fences, and poles.

Plastic bags are hazardous to manufacture and are said to take up to 1,000 years to decompose on land and 450 years in water. Countless plastic bags end up in our ocean and cause harm to our marine wildlife. Many marine animals and birds mistakenly ingest, become entangled, or choke on plastic bags that are floating around.

It is estimated that 100,000 marine mammals die each year because of plastic litter in our ocean in the North Pacific.

Click here to see a compelling slideshow on the effects of plastic bags on our environment.

Paper bags come from trees that are often clear-cut, leaving gaping holes in our forests. Clearcutting devastates wildlife habitats and important migration corridors. And when trees no longer hold the topsoil in place, our rivers and streams become full of sediment, which impacts water life. Additionally, the paper processing requires an inordinate amount of fossil fuels, water, and a variety of chemicals to produce.

Adapted from www.earthresource.org and www.1greengeneration.elementsintime.com