BYOB

Then you're hit with one last decision: What type of grocery bags do you want, paper or plastic? The answer is neither. Instead, choose to BYOB, or Bring Your Own Bag. Each year the United States consumes 30 billion plastic and 10 billion paper grocery bags, according to the Natural Resources Defense Council. That translates to about 14 million trees and 12 million barrels of oil. And then there's what happens after the bags are used-they clog landfills, contaminate recycling and composting facilities, and litter the landscape. Last month, San Francisco became the first U.S. city to officially recognize the problem when it banned plastic checkout bags, a move it hoped would encourage the use of biodegradable plastic bags. So avoid adding to bag pollution by always bringing your own reusable ones. And should you be caught without them, recycle any plastic bags back to the store they came from.