How many plastic bags do Oregonians use? How much oil would we save by banning plastic bags?
Estimates vary considerably. One estimate puts the number of plastic bags Oregonians use annually at 39 million. According to this same source, we would save 150,000 barrels of oil each year by banning plastic bags. However, many of Oregon’s plastic bags are actually made with a by-product of natural gas extraction. In addition, a bag ban could increase in paper bag use, which actually requires more oil for production. Thus, the important thing isn’t how much oil we’d save, but rather how many sea birds, sea otters, whales, and fish we’d save.
