Announcing the Chesapeake Bay Trash Trawl with 5 Gyres

We are very excited to announce a great new project coming up next month!

5 Gyres, renowned for research on plastic pollution in the ocean's gyres, is coming to Maryland in November to help us learn more about plastic pollution in our own Chesapeake Bay. We know our rivers are polluted, and we know of the growing plastic soup in the North Atlantic, but little work has been published about the waters in between.

We'll be sailing for four days from November 12 through 15, on a 42-foot Sabre Sloop out of Deale. The team will drag a manta trawl to sample of microplastics, giving us data to estimate the types of plastic and density of these pieces in bay waters. We'll also conduct a qualitative survey of larger trash floating on the surface.

5 Gyres trawl in the North Atlantic Ocean

But the best part is the team we are taking with us. We don't want to just see what's out there for ourselves--we want to show you! We are inviting an impressive list of policymakers and other influencers to come along and help with the sampling and surveys. We expect to have a few seats left for the interested public. If you'd like to join us, email Julie at julie@trashfreemaryland.org for more information.

We are also excited to be working with the National Aquarium to get the word out about our voyages and our findings. Be sure to follow us and the Aquarium on social media for the latest updates.

Many thanks to Trash Free Maryland member Chris Charbonneau, owner of local reusable bag company Joey Totes, for providing the boat and captaining the trips. If your company is interested in supporting the project as a sponsor, email us!

You're Invited! Come talk trash with us

On October 27, join us in Potomac for a conversation with policymakers and advocates about trash pollution and solutions in Montgomery County, including the pending ban on polystyrene foam food packaging. This is the first in a series of house parties we'll be doing around the state over the next year.

Montgomery County Councilmember Hans Riemer will speak about the foam ban. Other noted guests and host committee members include Delegates Al Carr and Jim Gilchrist, retired Montgomery Department of Environmental Protection Director Bob Hoyt, Maryland LCV Executive Director Karla Raettig, Bethesda Green founder David Feldman, and Choose Clean Water Maryland state lead and TFMD cofounder Brent Bolin.

We'll enjoy wine and snacks at the beautiful farmhouse of Diana and Billy Conway, located at 10600 River Road in Potomac. We suggest a donation of $50 to attend, payable online here or by credit card or check (payable to our fiscal sponsor, Alice Ferguson Foundation) at the event.

RSVP to Julie at julie@trashfreemaryland.org or 410-861-0412 by Friday, October 24. Look forward to seeing you there!

October means we're two steps closer to trash free

Yesterday, lots of new laws took effect in Maryland, DC, and Virginia, like DC's "yoga tax" and Maryland's marijuana decriminalization. But we're most excited about two new laws the media isn't writing about:

- SB390, which adds points to the driver's licenses of people convicted of illegal dumping. This bill was introduced by the Baltimore City Delegation in response to the City's excellent work in catching people dumping construction debris and other large amounts of trash. The City has mobile cameras; they set them up at dumping hot spots and get photographic evidence of people, their vehicles, and the act of illegal dumping. They convict almost 500 people a year this way!

But if those people go to another county and dump there too, if they get caught, the other county almost never knows that those individuals have a record in the City. They miss out on a chance to smack them with a high penalty for repeat violations. By tying these convictions to Motor Vehicle Administration records, it will be much easier to identify this repeat offenders. Ultimately the penalties will hopefully get offenders' attention where fines may not. Points can range from 2 to 5 points--that's the same level as speeding by 30 mph over the limit or failing to report an accident, among other crimes--depending on the amount of material dumped.

While we focus most of our efforts on source reduction policies, strong enforcement is also an important part of modifying behavior.

- SB781 requires special events to have recycling bins next to every trash can, and for event organizers to have a plan for actually recycling collected material. This requirement applies to every event on public space that serves food and/or drink and expects 200 or more attendees. Counties have until 2015 to revise their recycling plans to accommodate this new requirement.

While recycling doesn't necessarily reduce litter, getting people into the habit of recycling when they are out and about will help capture more recyclable material, and just might make the eventual transition to a container deposit a little easier.

Thank you to the Baltimore City Delegation and Administration, and to Senator Karen Montgomery, for making these victories possible!