Interesting, I hadn't looked for the numbers. Washington Post has an informative infographic on the subject. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/graph

Interesting, I hadn't looked for the numbers. Washington Post has an informative infographic on the subject. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/graphic/2007/10/03/GR2007100301385.html http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/graphic/2007/10... I personally use very few bags as I have cloth bags with me when I am shopping for food etc. A nit, paper bags can certainly be reused, I do it all the time for our recycling, which is kept in paper bags i the garage and sometimes for shopping. More energy and water use in Sweden is less of a problem, as our energy is largely biofuel, hydro or nuclear, but of course it is better to use less energy. Water we have quite a lot of. Plastics isn't biodegradable and paper is, but yes, you are right, this is not an easy good/bad choice.