A paper bag: carbon footprint
Carbonle#2 of 16📦Carbon footprintA paper bag
0.06kg CO₂e
one bag, made
carbonle.com
A paper bag comes in at about 0.06 kg CO₂e (one bag, made).
Of the 16 things you buy Carbonle tracks, A paper bag sits at #2 from the lightest — one of the lightest.
This is the one-off cost of making the thing, before you use it. It's why a reusable tote only wins after many trips, and why a phone's footprint is the factory, not the charger.
Heavier to make than a plastic one. 'Paper good, plastic bad' was never that simple.
Compare with
Figures from UK Environment Agency carrier-bag LCA (2011), licensed government LCA.
How we get these numbers: Methodology.