Save yourselves money and help save the earth!

Source: postconsumers.com :According to the Wall Street Journal, the U.S. goes through 100 billion plastic shopping bags annually. (Estimated cost to retailers: $4 billion)

Only 1-3% of plastic bags are recycled worldwide.

Industry figures show 90% of all grocery bags are plastic.

Plastic bags are made of polyethylene which is a petroleum product. Production contributes to air pollution and energy consumption.

It takes 1000 years for polyethylene bags to break down.

The amount of petroleum used to make 1 plastic bag would drive a car about 12 yards.

Plastic bags don’t biodegrade, they photodegrade- breaking down into smaller and smaller toxic bits contaminating soil and waterways. They then enter the foodweb when animals accidentally ingest them.

86% of all known species of sea turtles have had reported problems of entanglement or ingestion of marine debris.

Approximately 1billion seabirds and mammals die each year by ingesting plastic bags. Not only that, these poor animals suffer a painful death. The plastic wraps around their intestines or theychoke to death.

Less than 5 percent of US shoppers use canvas, cotton, or mesh bags.

Please change that number by removing free plastic bags for customer use in your store. Provide canvas bag alternatives, or charge a few cents for the use of plastic bags. This model has been used elsewhere and has led to a dramatic reduction in plastic bag use overtime.