An estimated 12 million barrels of oil per year are used to produce the plastic bags consumed in the United States alone. The average American family uses approximately 1400 plastic bags per year. These bags are typically used once, maybe twice, before being thrown in the trash.

An estimated 1-5% of the plastic bags given by grocers, department stores and restaurants are actually brought back to the store to be recycled. The majority of plastic bags end up in a landfill where they can take 500 to 1000 years to breakdown. Plastic bags have been known to clog landfill and recycling plant machinery, often times requiring hand-cleaning.

Plastic bags decompose through a process called photodegradation, which causes the bag to break down into smaller and smaller toxic particles that contaminate water and soil. It has been said that approximately 100,000 marine animals are killed by plastic bags and their broken down particles each year.