[OrangeBlossomBaby]

Originally Posted by skyking

To legitimize the extra effort and energy consumption that producing tote bags requires, consumers need to use their reusable bags—a lot. One study out of the United Kingdom found that you’d have to reuse a cotton tote 327 times to achieve the same carbon-usage ratio as using a paper bag seven times, or plastic bag used twice. As strange as it sounds, plastic bags have the lightest per-use impact of the various bags the study examined. Cotton totes, on the other hand, in terms of production and distribution, actually have according to the Atlantic, “the highest and most severe global-warming potential by far.”

Or, you can make your own re-useable bag out of used plastic bags - or buy one from whatever crafter is making them at a craft fair:

Woven Plastic Bag Bag : 10 Steps (with Pictures) - Instructables