Billions of plastic bags are harming the environment. According to the facts of EarthResource.org and ReusableBags.com, each year, an estimated 500 billion to one trillion plastic bags are consumed worldwide. That comes out to over one million per minute, and billions end up as litter each year. Since plastic bags are made from a non-renewable resource (petroleum) the manufacturing of plastic bags contributes to the diminishing availability of our natural resources, and causes damage to the environment by the extraction of petroleum. We also have the problem with paper bags, and deforestation being caused by it, putting on further damage to the environment.

Another point: the petroleum used to make 14 plastic bags is enough to drive a car a mile. The 380 billion plastic bags that Americans throw away each year are made from millions of barrels of petroleum, contributing to global warming, depleting oil supplies, and driving up costs of petroleum-based products like gasoline and energy. In addition, plastic bags are non-biodegradable, which means it takes a long time to break down naturally. It is estimated a traditional plastic bag takes 1000 years to dissolve. I understand the benefits of using plastic bags, they are absolutely convenient. On the contrary, if we reduce the usage of plastic bags, we can save the petroleum, which is the main energy source in our world. It also helps in lowering the cost of our fuels. We are now facing charges of over $100 per barrel of petroleum. Therefore, I highly recommend that we should limit our habit of using plastic bags and begin using eco-friendly bags.

Eco-friendly bags come in a wide range of different materials. For instance, hemp, calico, jute and polyester, etc. We should use eco-friendly bags instead of traditional plastic bags because they are much more durable than the traditional ones. That means we can reuse them for a longer period of time. Furthermore, most eco-friendly bags are biodegradable while the traditional plastic bags are not.

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