BOSTON -- Americans use 380 billion plastic bags a year. It takes 100 million barrels of oil to make those bags. most don't biodegrade in landfills and barely 1 percent of them get recycled.

NewsCenter 5's David Brown reported Tuesday that the statistics have shocked one local mom into action.

It's a friendly welcome from a North Carolina native, but the message is all serious in the Sharon, Mass., living room of Janet Martin. For the last year, Martin has been buying canvas reusable shopping bags, hosting parties in which she gives them away.

"I give these bags out with one condition. That you go to the Web site Onebagatatime.com and read about how important it is that you use these bags," Martin said.

It has become a one-woman campaign, gathering friends and strangers, sharing a cup of coffee and talking about the waste generated by plastic bags. Martin calls them BYOB parties -- bring your own plastic bag, turn it in for a canvas one and listen.

"We take these plastic bags, and they have about a 25-minute life span, and then we throw them away, " she said. "You need to know why I want to say to you, stop using plastic bags. Because it is a wasteful gesture to start with. Again, you are depleting your natural resources," Martin said.

For Martin, it is not only letting people know about the petroleum used in producing the plastic and the waste left behind, but about urging them to action.

"She has a nice way about her that just tells you some of the facts. Gives you a simple solution and what to do. It motivated me to go out and start talking more about it to other people, as well," Christine Turnbull said.

From the living room to the Statehouse, Martin's voice is being heard. Her efforts have led to legislation that would put a tax on plastic bags. The money would go to environmental cleanup recycling and public awareness.