It was revealed yesterday that Apple Stores will be transitioning away from plastic bags to paper as their next move on the environmental front. Apple sent out a memo to all U.S. Apple Store managers and employees yesterday titled "Goodbye plastic. Hello paper.

9to5Mac was able to get their hands on Apple's memo as noted below. Apple states that "We're committed to leaving the world better than we found it. One bag at a time. On April 15, we'll switch to paper shopping bags made from 80 percent recycled materials. These bags come in medium and large."

The timing of the memo is interesting because over the weekend we posted a report about Apple being granted design patents for their paper bags in China as the patent figures below confirm.

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