We’ve all heard the scientific consensus: Plastic bags will take some 500 years to break down in the environment. Contemplating that, who hasn’t had visions of whole neighborhoods disappearing under a pile of bags? Adding to the dim  picture are reports of a Texas-sized patch of plastic-based marine debris in the North Pacific. Plastic grocery bags seem to be everywhere, and one thing’s for certain: They are not going away.

A Beverage made from oil doesn't sound nearly as appetizing as pure water from the remote mountain lake depicted on the label. Yet, each time we take a gulp from a plastic bottle of water, some experts say we might as well be chugging from an oil well.

That’s because plastic bottles are around 70 percent petroleum, and chilling, transporting, and even recycling them requires additional oil. In fact, researchers at the Pacific Institute estimate that America’s bottled water habit requires an annual 32 to 54 million barrels of oil.