Plastic grocery bags are used constantly and abundantly in America's grocery stores. They are free and convenient. It even takes relatively low energy to produce compared to reusable bags. However, their negative, environmental impact comes from using so many of them that end up in the trash!
Reuse your bags! Whether that be a reusable cotton bag, paper bag, or even a plastic bag
There are several alternatives to plastic grocery bags. But because of the environmental impact from producing it, a cotton bag would have to be used at least 131 times and a paper bag 3 times to have a smaller environmental impact than plastic bags. If you can't avoid plastic bags, try to reuse them. Plastic bags were not initially invented to be single use. Besides groceries, you could use them as trash liners, dog waste bags, or storage for dirty laundry when traveling.