Bag Humor

We spotted this funny on xkcd.com. Enjoy!

How much plastic is in your community?

Props to the Surfrider Foundation's Cape Fear Chapter for this excellent, simple video:



This is a terrific project for your volunteers to do. Just head out to a regular roadside in your community and pluck the bags out of the bushes. Line them up, look them over--anything unusual?--and share with the world. You can post your videos to our new Facebook page, and we can show the General Assembly that this is a problem statewide.

Your cloth bags are not going to poison you

The wire stories about bacteria in reusable bags are starting to make the rounds again. (Funny how they re-emerge during key points in campaigns to enact a plastic-bag-reduction ordinance, huh? Almost like it's an opposition tactic...)

The study, authored by microbiologist Dr. Charles Gerba of the University of Arizona, asserts that reusable bags that are exposed to raw meats can harbor bacteria. It goes on to imply that when consumers don't wash their bags regularly, that bacteria can transfer to other foods and potentially cause food-borne illness.

There are several good rebuttals already out there, particularly this one from Consumer Reports, which points out a number of holes in the study--notably funded by the American Chemistry Council, the lobbying/trade organization for plastic manufacturers. Among the flaws:

- Only 84 bags were tested. The sample size is not statistically significant.
- The bacteria found aren't even harmful to human health. They tested for Salmonella and Listeria and found none.

Check out this quote, from Michael Hansen, senior staff scientist at Consumers Union:

"A person eating an average bag of salad greens gets more exposure to these bacteria than if they had licked the insides of the dirtiest bag from this study. These bacteria can be found lots of places, so no need to go overboard."

Which brings up an excellent point: bacteria are everywhere. Dr. Gerba regularly releases "dirty household items" studies--conveniently funded by corporate interests. Last month he released a study of the "germiest" common items (underwritten by Kleenex and hand sanitizer manufacturer Kimberly-Clark), and reusable bags weren't included. He also says grocery cart handles carry more bacteria than a typical bathroom.

So is the answer really to avoid reusable bags? Of course not. No illness has ever been linked to cloth bags. But it does make sense to follow common-sense food safety practices like washing your hands. Especially after you've handled all those other doorknobs, gas pumps, and grocery carts...

Support a Prince George's County Bag Bill

By Brent Bolin
Director of Advocacy, Anacostia Watershed Society
Cross-posted from www.anacostiaws.org

The Anacostia River is so severely impacted by trash that in 2007 it was declared impaired by trash under the provisions of the Clean Water Act. Only the second river in the country to be so designated, and the first multi-jurisdictional river (Maryland and DC), in 2010 a trash TMDL, or pollution diet, was issued that requires Anacostia jurisdictions to reduce the amount of trash entering the river.

At the end of 2008 AWS released a scientific study of trash in the Anacostia River. One of the key findings of this study was that 33% of the trash in the tidal river was plastic bags, while nearly 50% of the trash in tributary streams was plastic bags.

Plastic bags snagged along the Northwest Branch in Chillum, MD

The only truly sustainable way to deal with trash in our waterways is to reduce litter at the source -- AWS and volunteers can't be expected to hold trash clean-ups forever, and even trash traps only capture a portion of the trash in a waterway (and also require time and effort to maintain). For this reason AWS supports sensible policy changes that reduce trash at the source, such as DC's bag bill.

The DC bag bill is seen as a model trash reduction policy because of its simplicity and effectiveness. Assessing a 5-cent fee on disposable carryout bags, the bag bill creates an incentive for consumers to bring their own reusable bags to the store -- if you don't take the store's bags, you don't pay! As a result of this policy:

• DC has seen an estimated 80% reduction in bag use -- from 270 million bags in 2009 to 55 million bags in 2010
• Alice Ferguson Foundation reported polling data on the impact of DC's bag bill -- 78% of businesses reported either positive or no impact to their business and 75% of DC residents reported using fewer single-use plastic bags

There is no such thing as a free bag -- instead the cost of purchasing bags is passed on to the consumer via higher prices. AWS estimates the "hidden cost" of bags at $15 - $37.50 yearly for each Marylander. The bag bill is pro consumer because it exposes this hidden cost and allows the customer to avoid it. Unlike a tax, the bag fee can avoided -- if you don't want to pay the bag fee, you never have to!

Bags along roadside vegetation in Hyattsville, MD

Montgomery County has already followed DC's lead and enacted a bag program, and it is time for Prince George's County to do the same - it will help the county meet trash TMDL obligations, clean up our waterways, and generate funds for water quality propection.

How you can help
For complicated reasons involving the county's charter from the state, Prince George's County must receive authorization from the General Assembly in order to enact a bag fee program. Fortunately, the County Executive and several members of County Council are interested in the bag bill and they are seeking that authorization in the form of a local bill in the General Assembly. Prince George's County spends $2.5 million annually on litter clean-up and a bag bill would help reduce a major source of litter in our communities.

Please consider supporting the bill by attending the local hearing this Saturday, December 3, 9AM, at Queen Anne’s Theater, Prince George’s County Community College, Largo, MD. The bag fee authorization bill is number PG 402-12. Even if you aren't sure how you feel about a bag fee program, this decision should be made by the county council and not by state delegates so please urge your legislators to support home rule for Prince George's County by enacting PG 402-12.

Write your delegates and delegation chair Melony Griffith to tell them to support PG 402-12!

Upcoming workshops

One benefit of Alliance membership is training opportunities. I am beginning a road show of workshops around the state to educate members and other interested folks in the ins and outs of a plastics campaign.

This Wednesday, November 16, I will be at the Johns Hopkins Carey Business School in Baltimore. The workshop begins at 2 pm and will focus primarily on legislative solutions to plastic litter, including case studies of the successful advocacy campaigns in Washington, DC, and Montgomery County. If you are interested in attending, please email me!

Other workshops are scheduled for December 1 in Cambridge and December 13 in Berlin. Check our calendar tab for more details.

In brighter news...

A roundup of recent success stories:

Brownsville, Texas, instituted a ban on plastic bags in January, and residents are seeing the results:

Brownsville resident Juan Peña says he has noticed that the city looks a lot cleaner.

Travel around any part of the city and you probably will not see plastic bags clinging to fences or discarded on the roadways.

Peña says West Brownsville especially looks cleaner than it did about 11 months ago. He says the decision by city officials to implement a plastic bag in January was a good thing.

As part of the transition, stores could continue to give out plastic bags if they added a $1 surcharge to the transaction as an environmental fee. The bulk of the fee goes to the city -- about $250,000 was collected and used for litter pickup and as an incentive for bulk waste disposal.

Portland, Oregon's plastic bag ban took effect on October 15. Mayor Sam Adams expects the transition to be smooth, but hopes curmudgeons will blame him, and not the cashiers:



And Chicago is now considering a plastic bag ordinance as well. Alderman Joe Moreno is proposing a ban in order to prevent a scenario he recently described:

"I am, right now, I'm at [a] school in my ward, I'm about to meet with the principal, I'm on the playground," said Moreno. "And I can count eight bags just sitting here...it's windy out today, bouncing off the fences in this little playground area....Someone's got to clean those up, and it's city taxpayers that pay for that."

We reap what we sow

Shocking video of a canal in Naples after a storms:



Why do we do this to ourselves? Thanks to @FlotsamDiaries for the tip.

DC Bag Fee Creating Green Jobs in DC and Maryland

DC Greenworks is a Washington, DC, nonprofit social enterprise that consults, designs, and installs low-impact development projects to protect the environment. In that vein, the organization manages rain barrel installation for the District Department of the Environment's RiverSmart Homes program.

A third of their funding for the rain barrel program comes from the Anacostia River Cleanup Fund, aka the bag fund. This additional funding has substantially increased what they are able to do.

In 2009, before the fee went into effect, DC Greenworks installed 400 rain barrels at homes around the District. This year, with the additional funding, they expect to install 1000 rain barrels!

This increase has led them to hire two part-time installers. Peter Ensign, the organization's executive director, says that the rain barrel manufacturer, RiverSides, is ramping up production to meet the growing local demand. Though based in Toronto, the organization has added a manufacturing site at C.R. Daniels, a textiles, metal, and durable plastic factory in Ellicott City, Maryland. This move has piqued interest by Montgomery County, too, who is considering increasing the scope of its rain barrel program (Rainscapes) with this new local source.

Rain barrels improve water quality by capturing rain that falls on roofs and allowing residents to use the stored water during dry spells. This practice reduces the runoff that pollutes streams and rivers, while also reducing the amount of drinking water residents must pay for to water their landscapes.

In a press release, Marcus Ginder, Chair of RiverSides RainBarrel Group, says they expect the move will help them develop additional partnerships in the region. They also currently provide barrels to Greenbelt Cooperative Homes. "With this move to Maryland," says Ginder, "RiverSides RainBarrels will have a greater capacity to serve Chesapeake Bay protection organizations and municipalities with effective solutions to the stormwater problems plaguing old sewer systems."

Guest Post: Are you ready for the Trash Summit?

by Laura Chamberlin
Program Manager, Trash Free Potomac Watershed Initiative
Alice Ferguson Foundation

We’ve worked together on cleanups. We’ve worked together to pass bag fees and get stronger regulation. We’ve worked together to improve composting in the region. Let’s continue our efforts to solve the litter problem in the Potomac watershed at the 6th Annual Potomac Watershed Trash Summit, on October 19 from 8:30am to 4:30pm at George Mason University’s Founder’s Hall in Arlington, VA.

With an array of roundtables, there is something for everyone. Topics include: policy issues, trash reduction technologies, odd items in our watershed, the regional litter prevention campaign, regulation, and containing waste. Nearly 300 stakeholders will participate including elected officials, community businesses and leaders, NGOs, teachers, government agency leaders, and trash experts to discuss how to create a lasting reduction of litter and waste in the area.

As a working summit, attendees not only have the opportunity to participate in the development of actions, but to commit to taking action for a cleaner and healthier Potomac Watershed. Expect to come away with inspiration and network of people working towards the same -- ending litter.

This year’s summit will also engage and empower local students through the Summit’s Youth Track. Fifty high school students from the DC metro area will have the opportunity to attend a round table discussion proceeded by a briefing, create action items for their own schools, and present discussions to the larger group. Demonstrating the power of youth, the lunchtime keynote address will be delivered by a local middle school student who has been a strong advocate for a clean watershed since she began her campaign at the age of eight.

Will you join us? Will you make a commitment to taking REAL action to reducing litter in the Potomac and beyond? To learn more and register go to www.trashsummit.org.

Montgomery County begins bag fee outreach

Last week Montgomery County rolled out a website with information for residents and retailers about how to prepare for the 5-cent bag fee, which takes effect January 1. Under the slogan "Fight Litter, Bring Your Own Bag," the website explains the fee and where it applies (every retailer, both paper and plastic bags received at checkout), the problems of litter, and where the proceeds of the fee go (supporting watershed restoration). It also gives citizens tools to get involved, with a list of sites in particular need of cleanup and a space to report litter problems. There is even a schedule of webinars for retailers, to educate them on all the requirements.

It's great to see the outreach beginning already!

Pick Up America: ABC's Person of the Week

Last winter Silver Spring's Davey Rogner took a break from his trek across the country with Pick Up America to help us talk to lawmakers about plastic bags and the problems of litter. His energy definitely impressed a lot of people along the way.

He also impressed ABC News, which featured him and buddy Jeff Chen last week during their "Person of the Week" segment. Congratulations, guys! Very proud to have you on our team.

Guest Blog: Local waterway targeted for massive cleanup

By John Long, Founder/President, Clean Bread and Cheese Creek

Historic Bread and Cheese Creek in Dundalk, MD, will be the target of a major clean-up effort on Saturday, September 24, 2011 from 8am to 2pm, rain or shine. Led by local environmentalist John Long, the group plans to target the section of the stream between the Arc Baltimore at Dundalk’s building at 1401 North Point Road and the North Point Boulevard pumping station.

Volunteers of all ages and ability are appreciated and welcome to join in the effort. Brawn and muscle are needed to extract shopping carts and other heavy debris from the creek bed, while others are needed to pick lightweight fragments from the water and the undergrowth. It is suggested that folks interested in getting into the creek wear hip waders (some will be supplied) or old boots and long pants. Volunteers are needed to staff registration, haul trash bags to waiting dumpsters, provide supplies to those working in the creek bed, and sort recyclable materials at street level.

Gloves, trash bags, bottled water, and lunch will be provided. There is a limited supply of tools and hip waders to loan, so volunteers are asked to bring their own tools. We run our cleanups as family events; everyone helps one another, which fosters a sense of camaraderie and brings fun, friendship and enthusiasm. We are authorized to sign off on Service Learning hours for students and Community Service hours for the court system.

Please click here for photos of the current conditions in Bread and Cheese Creek of the area that will be cleaned on September 24, 2011. Click here for a map of the location.

For more information, contact John Long via email or at 410-285-1202.

Recycling plastic increases consumption

"Plastic Fantastic Love," an article by Surfrider Foundation Hawaii manager Stuart Coleman, appeared in the Honolulu Weekly today. It gives a thorough explanation of the problem of plastics, and the threats it poses to marine life, public health, and a sustainable planet.

It also includes this excellent quote from Oregon Surfrider activist (and my friend) Stiv Wilson:

“Though we believe that material recovery in the waste stream is important, plastic recycling is not the ultimate solution,” says Stiv Wilson, a journalist and ocean activist who worked with the Surfrider Foundation to help pass bag bans in the Pacific Northwest. “Industry, by their own admission, can’t make a bag out of a bag. It takes 70 percent virgin plastic to create a new bag, which means all we’re doing by plastic recycling is creating more, not less plastic in the world, while giving the average, good intentioned citizen the illusion of progress. This is precisely why industry pushes plastic recycling–it’s a guaranteed increase in consumption, but it ultimately does nothing to reduce the amount of plastic garbage entering the ocean.”

Emphasis mine.

Implementing a Bag Fee Program

Montgomery County's 5-cent fee on plastic and paper shopping bags takes effect on January 1, 2012, but there is much advance work required to ensure success.

Through an outreach campaign called "Fight Litter, Bring Your Own Bag," the county is already taking steps to educate residents and retailers of the law's requirements, and to assist low-income and senior citizens by distributing free reusable bags. The county plans to distribute 75,000 free reusable bags before January, through county departments and agencies, as well as community partnerships serving lower-income households.

The county will be meeting with large retailers and industry representatives to educate businesses about the law, and will provide decals, signs, and posters for display in shop windows and at cash registers to help retail staff and the public. Unlike the similar existing bag program in Washington, DC, Montgomery County's bag fee will be charged at all retailers. (DC's fee only applies at stores that have a food license.)

Finally, the county is creating a database to track the law's effectiveness, to demonstrate the change in the number of bags used and those found in the litter stream.

Revenues from the fee will support the Water Quality Improvement Fund, which supports stormwater projects and watershed protection.

Surfer Kyle Thiermann Lays It All Out

Kyle Thiermann, a pro surfer and the spirit behind Surfing for Change, produced this great, short (4 minutes!) video that sums up why we should switch out single-use bottles and bags for reusables, and how easy it is to do it.



Who can you share this with?

Chestertown Bans Plastic Bags

Chestertown, a town of about 5000 residents on the Eastern Shore, has banned plastic bags! The ban was the brainchild of Mayor Margo Bailey, who has been pushing for the law for two years. She cites the pollution and litter problem, as well as the petroleum used in the bags' manufacturing, as reasons to eliminate their use within the town's limits.

The law wasn't passed without drama. At a public hearing in March, town resident Kevin Walsh was arrested for disorderly conduct after yelling at police officers, according to the Star-Democrat. He came to the hearing sporting an orange jumpsuit and a tricorn hat, along with a sign of protest.

The vote was delayed until April 4 to allow for some changes, but ultimately passed 3-2. Citizens then mounted a signature campaign to try to put the issue to a vote on the November ballot, but came up short in the number of signatures required. Much of the discontent centered on activists' views that the town government was overstepping its bounds (hence that tricorn hat).

The ordinance goes into effect January 19, nine months after its effective date. It prohibits the distribution of single-use plastic bags by merchants within town, except by take-out food businesses and for compostable plastic bags. Fines are $100 for a first offense, and $200 for subsequent offenses. The language of the ordinance is posted on www.chestertown.com.

Chestertown is the county seat of Kent County, and has two major grocery stores, Acme and SuperFresh. Thus this ban will have an impact on shoppers from around the county, who drive to the town for errands.

There Is No "Away"

Legendary comic strip "For Better or For Worse" took on the problem of trash in our waterways in Sunday's edition:

Creator Lynn Johnston had this to say about the strip:

Cartoonists are discouraged from using comic strips as a platform for preaching reform - but every now and then, something really gets under your skin and you simply have to write about it. For me, littering is a red flag. If I ruled the world all convicted litterists would receive a stiff fine, a broom and a dustpan. They would be sentenced to cleaning the community streets, parks and beaches for as long as it took to reform them - and even then, they would be on parole.  

When Katie cut her foot on a broken beer bottle at the beach one weekend, I penned this Sunday page - and the response was immediate. I received a lot of mail from folks who feel the same way I do - and it occurred to me: with so many people angry, frustrated and disgusted by littering, why do we still have so darned much of it??!!

I cut my foot on glass once while surfing in Ocean City. I feel much more comfortable wearing Five Fingers or my wetsuit booties now. Has this happened to anyone in your family?

Thanks to Rob Nixon at Waiting for the Next Swell for posting about this!

Outside MD: Oregon's plastic bag ban fails

Disappointing news out of the Pacific Northwest today as a proposed plastic bag ban has been shelved in Oregon. After building tremendous support from businesses and legislators over the last couple of years, advocates ran into heavy opposition from the plastics industry, and time ran out on a compromise.

Just as in Maryland, the end of the 2011 statewide campaign is leading to several municipal-level proposals, with Portland Mayor Sam Adams vowing to ban the bag in his city of 583,000. Grocers had pushed for a statewide law, preferring that over piecemeal ordinances that vary by county.

For more details, see this article from The Oregonian.

Montgomery County Passes the Bag Fee!

Today the Montgomery County Council voted 8-1 in support of a five-cent fee on single-use plastic and paper bags. The fee will be charged by all retailers in the county starting January 1, 2012, with proceeds supporting watershed protection via the Water Quality Protection Fund.

The dissenting vote was Councilwoman Nancy Floreen.

Congratulations to Montgomery County for taking a step toward a trash-free Maryland!

Montgomery County Considering a Bag Fee

Montgomery County is now considering its own 5-cent bag fee, modeled on the one in place in DC. The revenues from the fee would benefit the Water Quality Protection Fund, which supports stormwater projects and watershed protection.

The arguments in favor of this fee are the same as those for a statewide one:

- A bag fee will reduce litter, which is both a visual blight and a pollutant in the water.
- Reduced litter will reduce the amount the County spends to clean up trash.
- Businesses will save money by not having to purchase as many bags.
- Any revenue generated will support restoration and protection projects to further improve our waterways.

The Montgomery County Council is expected to vote on this proposal in just a few weeks. You can tell the Council to support the legislation with a simple email or even a phone call:

District One
Roger Berliner
240-777-7828
councilmember.berliner@montgomerycountymd.gov

District Two
Craig Rice
240-777-7955
councilmember.rice@montgomerycountymd.gov

District Three
Phil Andrews
240-777-7906
councilmember.andrews@montgomerycountymd.gov

District Four
Nancy Navarro
240-777-7968
councilmember.navarro@montgomerycountymd.gov

District Five
Valerie Ervin
240-777-7960
councilmember.ervin@montgomerycountymd.gov

At-Large Members
Nancy Floreen
240-777-7959
councilmember.floreen@montgomerycountymd.gov

George Leventhal
240-777-7811
councilmember.leventhal@montgomerycountymd.gov

Hans Riemer
240-777-7964
councilmember.riemer@montgomerycountymd.gov

Two Articles Worth a Read

A couple of good articles have crossed my Twitter feed in the past week. (Follow @TrashFreeMD for regular updates!)

First, our friends in Oregon are working to pass a statewide bag ban. This effort follows on a successful campaign to ban plastic bags in Portland. Sightline Daily posted a story last week, Three (Unexpected) Reasons to Support Oregon's Plastic Bag Ban. Among several good points, the article describes the problem bags are for recyclers. That's right--while industry opponents claim we can solve the state's litter problem by just increasing recycling, the people who actually do the recycling say the bags cost them money:

Closer to home, plastic bags have been a real problem for recyclers. The bags clog up recycling machinery so badly that one Oregon-based recycler recently estimated that 20 to 30 percent of their total labor costs were related to plastic bags -- pulling them from the rest of the recycling stream, untangling them from their equipment, and stopping all work when bags clog up the machines -- and about 7 percent of otherwise recyclable paper has to be landfilled because of plastic contamination. So plastic bags in the recycling stream likely undermine the effectiveness of recycling efforts overall.

The second article comes from the Earth Island Journal and its blog, the EnvironmentaList. Writer Amy Westervelt examines the parallels between the campaigns waged by Big Tobacco in the 80s and 90s, and the campaigns mounted now by "Big Plastic," namely the American Chemistry Council and other lobbyists representing plastics manufacturers. Big Plastic is filing lawsuits to fight successful legislation efforts, pushing for de minimus clauses in regulatory legislation like limits on BPA content in baby bottles, and pushing for citizen's "rights" to a product that ultimately harms them and the world around them.

But Big Plastic's other tactic is more insidious: using environmental messaging to continue a wasteful and toxic practice of continued consumption of single-use plastics.

There are several examples of this, but the most insidious are the industry's use of recycling as a justification for the continued use of disposable plastics, and its sponsorship of various research expeditions and conferences around ocean plastic pollution (which it euphemistically calls "marine debris").

The American Chemistry Council was one of the lead sponsors of last week's 5th International Marine Debris Conference, a gathering of 400 professionals and activists seeking ways to prevent ever more trash from collecting in our oceans' gyres and on our coastlines. While they purported to support efforts to reduce this pollution, they also took to Twitter to attack data from Washington, DC's bag fee experience.

Of course they don't want to reduce our use of plastics any more than Philip Morris wanted us to buy fewer cigarettes. But by appearing to be socially responsible, whether through sponsoring these events or providing ashtrays to community groups, they both can blunt some of the criticism they've earned for propagating dangerous products.

Tell me about this bag fee.

The Clean the Streams and Beautify the Bay Act (SB602/HB1034) proposes to require shoppers in Maryland to pay five cents for each single-use plastic and paper bag they take from stores. The money raised from the fee is split between the store, the state, and the Chesapeake Bay Trust.

Why are we addressing bags?

Plastic bags make up a substantial proportion of trash in our region. A 2008 study in Washington, DC, found that a quarter of the trash in the Anacostia River, and half the trash in its tributaries, was plastic bags. While beverage containers, food wrappers, and other waste were also common, plastic bags are easily addressed because they are easily replaced with alternatives (reusable bags) or even unnecessary. (A bottle, on the other hand, is part of the product.)

We need to do something, and soon. The Anacostia River (with 80 percent of its watershed in Maryland) is so polluted that it was declared impaired for trash under the Clean Water Act. Baltimore Harbor is close to a similar designation.

If the trash studies find mostly plastic bags, why include paper bags too?

While currently most stores give out bags for free, they actually cost the store money to purchase. That cost is then added to the cost of the goods and passed on to the customer.

According to Safeway, paper bags cost about twice as much as plastic bags (five cents vs. two cents, on average). If plastic bags are the only target, customers will shift primarily to paper bags (as seen in San Francisco following their ban on plastic bags at large grocery stores), increasing the cost to the retailer.

Since the goal is to reduce the use of disposable bags with no negative impact on the store, both plastic and paper bags must be addressed.

The environmental impact of paper bags (in production, transportation, and recycling) is also not significantly better than that of plastic bags, even though littered paper bags do disintegrate in the environment (which is why non-degradable plastic bags are more common as pollution, while both types are commonly littered).

Why is the fee five cents, and not 20 cents (or higher)?

Five cents is closely tied to the cost of plastic and paper bags, as borne by the retailer. Charging that amount makes the cost of the bag more transparent to the consumer and allows them to make a more informed choice.

It's also not necessary to use a higher fee. Washington, DC, uses a five-cent fee and saw bag use drop by 50 to 80 percent almost immediately. The nickel is enough to get the customer's attention without being burdensome to most people.

Is the fee burdensome? Doesn't it hurt the low-income?

It doesn't have to. If a shopper always brings reusable bags and refuses a bag if s/he doesn't need one, s/he never has to pay the fee. While reusable bags cost $1-3 in many stores (compared to the hidden cost of "free" bags of $15-37.50 yearly, as calculated by Anacostia Watershed Society), the revenue from the fee will help cover the cost of free bags for needy residents, distributed by the state. There are also other ways to get free bags to those who need them, including bag drives and distribution through food pantries and service organizations.

Bread for the City, a DC food pantry, has distributed tens of thousands of reusable bags to its clients. Those bags were donated by corporations, community members, and the District. Bread has subsequently bought fewer plastic bags for distributing its food, saving the organization several thousand dollars. Its clients prefer the cloth bags for their capacity, durability, and softer straps, making them easier to carry, and many clients bring their bags back each week.

Why not just exempt transactions using WIC or SNAP (food stamps)?

One grocery chain tried to fight DC's proposed fee by telling public housing residents that the fee would hurt them. It backfired--the residents said those claims implied that they didn't care about the environment and couldn't make the choice.

Also, much effort has gone into making WIC and SNAP transactions appear more like cash transactions to reduce any stigma or embarrassment. An exemption would call attention to those customers.

Doesn't this just raise money for the state? My taxes are high enough.

The goal of this bill is not to raise money, but to reduce the use of bags. (Ultimately, that will reduce the cost of litter pickup and other pollution mitigation currently borne by the state and jurisdictions. And that can reduce tax burden.)

DC's Chief Financial Officer estimated that the fee would raise $3.5 million in the first year. In fact it only raised $2 million in 2010, because bag use declined so much more quickly than anticipated. This is a victory--fewer bags are making their way into the environment as litter.

The proceeds of the fee are divided between the store, the state, and the Chesapeake Bay Trust:

- The store keeps one cent of the fee to cover bookkeeping expenses. If the store offers a reusable bag credit program (giving the customer five cents back for bringing a reusable bag, as Giant and Target currently do), the store keeps two cents. This will help promote the consumer shift to reusable bags.

- A portion of the revenue is allocated to the Department of Human Resources, which is charged with purchasing reusable bags and distributing them for free to needy residents.

- The rest of the revenue is directed to the Chesapeake Bay Trust, which works to improve the quality of the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries by offering competitive grants to municipalities, counties, and nonprofit organizations across the state. The Trust currently receives proceeds from the specialty license plate and other sources and is chartered by the General Assembly, but it is also independently managed, giving it some protection from budgetary fluctuations.

Why don't we just ban bags?

Bans don't give consumers a choice. While Kauai and Maui have banned bags, the state of Hawaii is still considering a fee.

Why don't we just push recycling more?

We've had recycling for more than 20 years and the litter problem is only getting worse.

Americans consume 8 billion pounds of plastic bags every year. In 2006, 590 million pounds were recycled in the US and Canada, leaving over 7 billion pounds to be discarded. In 2009, 364 million pounds were recycled in the US and Canada (226 million pounds less than in 2006) due to decreased demand for the recycling of plastic bags.

We cannot recycle our way out of this problem.

Isn't this bad for plastic manufacturers? What about jobs?

Businesses are changing all the time to meet consumer demand. Where the demand is shrinking for disposable bags, it's expanding for reusable bags. Most plastic bags are manufactured in China, while opportunities abound for American small businesses offering a more durable alternative.

A Never-Ending Stream

Davey Rogner spent much of last year picking up trash. As campaign coordinator for Pick Up America, he traveled from Maryland's Atlantic coast into Ohio, as part of PUA's mission to walk across the country picking up trash and building a network of activists.

It's an admirable goal, but cleaning up litter is not sustainable. Davey wrote about a recent volunteer event in Hyattsville, and you can feel the frustration in his words:

Yesterday, volunteers spread over the same 300 yard section of stream I’d cleaned back in 2009 and over the course of two and a half hours made that section the cleanest I have ever seen it. Reflecting on the volumes of trash that were once there it was satisfying to see our progress in cleaning that area. Neighbors of the Northwest Branch have been cleaning that same section of stream at all of their bi-yearly clean-ups. I am happy to report, that for now, it’s time to move on from this section. It is very clean. Let’s head to the other side of the stream.

Seeing that most of the work was finished on that section, I wanted to take a crew over to the “Welcome to Hyattsville” sign I had visited a year earlier. We crossed under Queens Chapel Rd through a large stream outwash storm drain. As soon as we got to the other side, everyone was taken aback by the filth. At another clean-up I did in 2009 with about 30 volunteers from a UMCP student group Engineers Without Borders in 2009, we focused solely on this very spot next to the giant storm drain. It was actually in worse condition than when I had cleaned it in 2009.

I asked everyone to leave the trash there as I thought it important to visit the forest next to the “Welcome to Hyattsville” sign. When we got to the forest we were dumbstruck. Not only was the place filthy, but it was worse than when I passed by in 2010. A path had been created into the forest where one broken chair sat alone surrounded by heaps and heaps of litter. Three men stood in a circle amongst what to me appeared to be a drunken trash lair. With a smile, they exited the forest. I said “This place is filthy, do you want to help us clean?” One said “What?” Thinking he didn’t speak English, I simply said “Mucho Basura.” He said “yes” and walked away. His friends followed, both looking drunk, desperate, and possibly even confrontational since we were descending upon their lair.

It's time to address the trash problem from a new angle, to reduce the amount of "stuff" we use and therefore the amount of waste we produce. Contact your legislators today and ask them to support the Clean the Streams and Beautify the Bay Act of 2011.

How does a bag fee affect low-income residents?

Bread for the City, a direct-service organization serving Washington, DC's low-income population, recently wrote a blog article about their experience with the District's five-cent disposable bag fee, and what that has meant for clients of their food pantry.

In general, the response has been positive. Bread received tens of thousands of reusable bags through community and corporate donations, and uses them to distribute food to clients. Clients who bring their bags back receive additional produce the following week. Plus, "One woman told [us] that she’s noticed a clear change, and is proud to live 'in a community that doesn’t have plastic trash flying at you in the wind.' Someone even asked us when the government is going to put a fee on bottles and cans."

Bread, and other food pantries, can always use more bags. If you can make a donation or help organize a collection drive, contact jwankel@breadforthecity.org.

Clean the Streams & Beautify the Bay Act of 2011

Maryland's General Assembly is now officially considering legislation to reduce the number of disposable shopping bags used in the state. Earlier this month Senator Jamie Raskin and Delegate Al Carr introduced the Clean the Streams and Beautify the Bay Act of 2011. You can read the bill online here: HB 1034 and SB 602.

The bill states that stores will charge five cents for each plastic and paper shopping bag distributed at the point of sale, with exceptions for restaurants and farm stands. Of the fee collected, the store will keep one cent (two cents if the store gives a credit for reusable bags) and the remaining three to four cents will go to the Comptroller, who will distribute funds for distribution of reusable bags and restoration activities in the Chesapeake Bay watershed. Those restoration activities will be administered through a grant program within the Chesapeake Bay Trust, a chartered

Hearings on these bills will be on March 8 (Senate) and March 11 (House of Delegates), in Annapolis. To tell your delegates, senator, and governor to support the Clean the Streams and Beautify the Bay Act of 2011, click here!

A Big Week for Bag Bills

Plastic litter reduction proposals are sweeping the nation, with lots of activity just this week:

Yesterday, the Environment and Natural Resources Committee of Oregon's Senate heard public debate on SB 536, which would ban disposable plastic bags and put a five-cent charge on paper sacks. This legislation seeks to bring consistency to the state's bag regulations, as Portland has already passed such a ban. Surfrider Foundation's Portland Chapter has been a leading proponent of the Ban the Bag campaign in the state.

Today, February 9, Connecticut's Environment Committee is debating a proposal to put a 5-cent fee on both plastic and paper shopping bags (like DC has and Maryland could have). Again, this would provide consistency across the state, as some stores and municipalities already have bans. You can watch the debate online starting at 11 am, or later via the archive.

And of course tomorrow the Trash Free Maryland Alliance is hosting our Waste in Our Waterways panel at the Lowe House Office Building in Annapolis. Join us for a discussion of why Maryland needs the Clean the Streams and Beautify the Bay Act of 2011, followed by a screening of the film Oceans of Plastic. It all starts at 11:30 in room 142.

Waste in our Waterways Panel - Feb. 10

Waste in our Waterways Panel Discussion Thursday, February 10

Please join a distinguished panel for a discussion of trash in our waterways, and hear about the success of Washington, DC in enacting a small fee on disposable bags. After finding that a significant percentage of the trash floating in the Anacostia River was plastic bags, the Council of the District of Columbia took decisive action to limit the source of that pollution.

Thursday, February 10, 11:30AM – 2 PM
House Office Building, Room 142
6 Bladen Street
Annapolis, MD

At the conclusion of a Q/A session with our distinguished panel, supporters will be sticking around to view Oceans of Plastic, a film about the mounting danger of single use plastics in our waterways and oceans.

The Panel will feature:

MD Delegate Al Carr (District 18)
The lead sponsor of the Bag Bill in the MD House of Representatives

DC Council Member Tommy Wells (Ward 6)
The lead proponent of the successful DC Bag Bill

Chestertown Mayor Margo Bailey
A community leader working to ban plastic bags in her municipality to protect the Chester River

Andrew Harris
A researcher from MD who is developing an ocean sampler to measure the concentration of plastic particles in the North Pacific Trash Gyre

The Panel will be facilitated by Brent Bolin
The Director of Advocacy for The Anacostia Watershed Society

For more information please visit: www.TrashFreeMaryland.org

Panel/Film POSTPONED

Apologies for the late notice...

Due to last night's weather, several of our panelists are unable to make it to Annapolis today, and we are working to reschedule the panel and film event. Check back here for more details.

In the meantime, please take two minutes to contact your legislators to ask their support for this bill. You can send a quick e-mail here.

Exploring the alternatives

By Barb Krupiarz, Sierra Club


Estimates of plastic bag usage across the globe are between 500 billion and 1 trillion each year. With the conservative estimate, that is still almost 1 million bags used per minute. The US EPA estimates that less than 5% are recycled each year. Even if some bags are reused, the worldwide litter problem from plastic bags is still immense. And, the cost of these “free” bags to retailers is over $4 billion each year – another cost tacked on to the consumer.

So, what are the alternatives? Some say to recycle more. But, at 1 million bags used per minute, can we keep up with that rate for recycling? The American Chemistry Council sites the plastic lumber manufacturer, Trex, as the largest recycler of plastic bags in the U.S. with 1.5 billion bags recycled every year and making up 10% of their product. The problem is that U.S. consumers use 100 billion bags per year and the fact remains that plastics are a major cause of ocean pollution. In 2006, the U.N. estimated that oceans have 46,000 pieces of plastic in them for every square mile.

What about switching to biodegradable, cornstarch-based bags? There are several problems with this alternative. The first is that the cost to manufacture these bags is currently much higher than the cost of conventional plastic bags. These bags are made from roughly 5% starch, but also a petroleum-based polyester and don't really degrade in a home compost bins or landfills. Finally, these bags cannot be recycled with ordinary bags and contaminate the recycling stream.

What about recyclable paper instead? While paper recycling is readily available, paper bag manufacturing still requires large amounts of natural resources and causes a significant amount of pollution.

The debate about plastic vs. paper still goes on today, but the bottom line is that the best solution eliminating disposable bags that have a life span of 12 minutes and replacing them with reusable bags.

There's "marine debris," and then there's just trash

Students at NorthBay Adventure Camp are learning a lot about trash in our water. Even ice doesn't keep them from cleaning up the Chesapeake beach along the camp. Check out this video the kids made:

Marine Debris (1/6/11) from NorthBay Media on Vimeo.

What do cleanup volunteers find?

At a summer cleanup of the Back River, it was "lots of plastic bags," plus cans, cups, and other food packaging.



Video by the Back River Restoration Committee.