Bags - The Facts

Conventional plastic bags have the greatest environmental impacts UNTRUE Conventional plastic bags have the lowest global warming potential FACT Plastic used for bag production seriously depletes oil reserves UNTRUE Plastic used for bag production largely comes from bi-products of oil refining such as naphtha and ethylene FACT Heavy-duty, hand-fi nished, shopping bags are better for the environment UNTRUE Heavy duty bags may be designed to last longer but require far greater resource in production which together with transportation and storage impacts negates any perceived environmental advantage FACT Bags made from natural and sustainable materials (such as cotton and jute) are better for the environment MYTH Using these materials for bags wastes all the resources needed for growing the materials and requires an unrealistically high incidence of re-use before they even come close to the low impacts of plastic (which can always be recycled) FACT