Plastic bags. Canadians alone use about six billion of the handy throwaway items every year. They take hundreds of years to biodegrade and have sparked heated debates in cities from San Francisco to Mumbai. This documentary gets a handle on the bag battle. From the big oil employees who brought the bag to America, to the Nobel laureate fighting for a bag ban, to the retired German schoolteacher who holds the world's record for the most plastic bags, the film takes stock of this icon of convenience culture.

Originally broadcast on the CBC series Doc Zone on January 31, 2008.