Reference: Planet Ark Plastic bag reduction website:

http://recyclingweek.planetark.org/documents/doc-712-plastic-bags-factsheet.pdf

Every year Australians use around 3.9 billion plastic bags. That's over 10.6 million bags per day!! A person's use of a plastic bag can be counted in minutes, however it can take between 15 and 1000 years to break down in the environment.

In the marine environment plastic bag litter is lethal, killing tens of thousands of birds, whales, seals and turtles every year as they often mistake plastic bags for food such as jellyfish. After an animal is killed by plastic bags its body decomposes and the plastic is released back into the environment where it can kill again.

On land, plastic bag litter can block drains, trap birds and kill livestock. Approximately 30 to 50 million plastic bags end up as litter on our beaches, streets and parks. It has been estimated that it costs governments, businesses and community groups over $4 million a year to clean up littered plastic shopping bags.