I have been asked this question hundreds of times in my adult life…Would that be paper or plastic?  Lately it seems; it is assumed that we all want plastic instead of paper.  The big question is which one is better for the environment.

Here are some interesting facts for you to ponder when making your choice when out shopping…..In the United States we use 20 million barrels of oil per day.  Of that oil used, .7% of that barrel is used to produce film and plastic bags.  It takes 163,000 gallons of oil to make 100 million bags (or 3870 barrels of oil).  The amount of oil that the United States uses in 72 minutes is equal to the total tonnage of bags that are consumed in California for at least 2 to 3 years.

Five percent of 1 days’ crude oil use in the United States is equal to a few years worth of carry out plastic bags used in California.  There are 1.3 million workers employed in the plastics industry in the United States.  This is the 4th largest manufacturing sector in the United States.  There are 43,600 employees working in the plastic bag industry in the United States.

Please check back on Friday for part two of this post.