Plastic or paper bags? Data clearly shows that plastic has many advantages over paper in terms of sustainability. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, environmental research consultants and others:

• Paper bags generate 70 percent more air pollution and 50 percent more water pollution than plastic bags. They also require four times more energy than plastic to produce and 85 times more energy to recycle.

• The production of paper bags generates roughly four times more greenhouse gas emissions than is generated in the production of plastic bags.

• Paper in today’s landfills does not degrade substantially faster than plastic, and requires nine times more landfill space. Two thousand grocery-sized plastic bags weigh less than 30 pounds, while 2,000 grocery-sized paper bags weigh about 280 pounds.

• Plastic bags cost about 1 cent each to produce. A paper bag costs about 5 cents. Compostable bags cost up to 10 cents each.