Mawii asked for a 17-liter can of cooking oil, which she split into small polyethylene bags for sale door-to-door.

FORBES: Magazine Article

Plastic bags are made of polyethylene, derived from petrol and take 1, 000 years to decompose.

UNESCO: Communication and Information

Laurier also pointed out that cornstarch bags, far from being a worthy alternative to regular polyethylene, could in the long run be more harmful to the environment.

CNN: Plastic bags fly into environmental storm