SLIDE 1
An Impact Perspective
Labels, Standards & Certifications
Lynne Olson, Ph.D.
most commonly made
from cotton (fossil-fuel- intensive)
cotton growers use
more than 10 percent
- f the world's
pesticides and nearly 25 percent of the world's insecticides
most are woven outside
the U.S. where labor is less costly
Increased fossil fuels in
transportation
%#*&!, forgot it again… made of polyethylene, a
petroleum-based resource
consumes 40% less energy to
produce than paper.
generates 80% less solid
waste than paper bags
can take 1,000 years to
decompose
fewer than 5% of plastic bags
are recycled
60 to 80 percent of ocean
debris is plastic - poisoning or strangling marine life
Made from a renewable
resource (trees)
hold twice the contents of
most plastic bags
takes about a month to
decompose
21% of paper bags are
currently recycled
Credit: Tim Smith, Ph.D. UMN (NorthStar
Initiative for Sustainable Enterprise)