The blog of Trash Free Maryland, a network of environmental and community groups and individuals committed to reducing trash pollution in Maryland's environment and waterways.
Lent is a time to repent, reflect, sacrifice, and listen for God. This year we invite people of faith and congregations to "fast" from plastic bags -- to give up using them and instead use reusable cloth bags.
During a fast, we are conscious of our actions, and give up our self-reliance and control. After 40 days, we are renewed and refreshed, having traded in an old, bad habit for a new, healthy one.
Carry a reusable bag with you to use on a regular basis and remind yourself of your practice. Reflect and pray on what you are doing, listening to what God may speak to you during this time.
Sign the Lenten Plastic Bag Pledge and return to Interfaith Partners for the Chesapeake. We will keep track of the pledges and can support you during your Fast. Ask your congregation and/or denominational leaders to participate in the Fast. Tell your elected officials that you are fasting from plastic bags for Lent and why. Let them know that, as a person of faith, this is a spiritual issue for you. We can help you do this.
-By Dottie Yunger, Executive Director, Interfaith Partners for the Chesapeake
Many people think of the Prince George’s bag bill as an environmental bill, and it does enjoy a broad base of support from environmental groups. But the coalition supporting the bag fee is much, much broader than the environmental community. It includes town and city governments, including the Prince George's County Council, as well as business, labor, faith, youth, and cultural groups. Supporters range from the Prince George’s County Chamber of Commerce to the United Food and Commercial Workers Union Local 400. The Maryland-National Capital Building Industry Association, representing the construction and development industry, has endorsed the bill. County Executive Rushern Baker supports the bill, as do the mayors of Forest Heights and Capitol Heights.
Reading their letters of support, it’s easy to see why there is such wide reaching enthusiasm for the bill: Cleaner, more attractive streets and streams. Taxpayer savings from reduced litter cleanup costs. Reduced landfill tipping and garbage hauling fees. A dedicated funding source to clean up our communities. These are concerns shared by all citizens, and they will benefit everyone. And with the overwhelming success of the bag fees in DC and Montgomery County, these aren’t just ideas -- we know they are proven to work.
Of course, there is also a strong coalition of environmental groups that have endorsed the bag bill. These organizations have been working for years to restore the Anacostia and Potomac rivers, and they know first-hand how much of a difference this bill will make. From Indian Creek, to the Anacostia River, the Potomac, the Chesapeake Bay, and the Atlantic Ocean -- the bag bill will improve water quality all the way down the line. The diversity of supporting environmental groups is testament to the wide ranging environmental impact of the bill: from the tiny Friends of Lower Beaverdam Creek to the nationwide Clean Water Action.
Several endorsing organizations have requested amendments to the bill, which will be incorporated to help make the transition easier for our senior and lower income residents. Those who choose to purchase disposable bags will be funding the distribution of reusable bags to those in need. Remaining funds will be dedicated to environmental cleanup projects in our neighborhoods, including public education, water quality, and litter cleanup.
A clean Prince George’s County is something we can all get behind. A more beautiful landscape, and more beautiful rivers, make our county an attractive place to live and work, inviting investment and instilling a sense of civic pride in our citizens.
Click here to see the full list of government and community organizations that support the Prince George’s bag bill.
Join the coalition! Email us if your business, government, faith, youth, environment, or other community organization would like to be added to this list.
Alice Ferguson Foundation
Anacostia Watershed Citizens Advisory Council
Anacostia Watershed Restoration Partnership
Anacostia Watershed Society
Citizens to Conserve and Restore Indian Creek
Clean Water Action
Friends of Lower Beaverdam Creek
Friends of Quincy Run Watershed
Indian Head Highway Area Action Council
Interfaith Partners for the Chesapeake
Keep Prince George’s Beautiful
Latino Civic Association
Maryland-National Capital Building Industry Association
Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments
Prince George’s Chamber of Commerce
Prince George’s Civic Association
Sierra Club – Maryland Chapter
Trash Free Maryland Alliance
United Food and Commercial Workers Union Local 400
University of Maryland Student Government Association
Last week brought a wave of news stories looking back at the first year of the Montgomery County bag fee. Some of them (particularly the Washington Post) concluded the bag fee is ineffective at changing behavior, as shoppers did not appear to be switching from disposable bags to reusable ones as intended.
This conclusion is incorrect. And it’s all because of one number.
Montgomery County appears to have vastly underestimated disposable bag use before the fee took effect and has not provided information on its methodology in developing pre-bag fee estimates on usage. The County says 82.9 million plastic bags were used annually before the fee. In fact, it was likely closer to 300 million.
According to a 2009 report by the US International Trade Commission, Americans used 102,105,637,000 plastic bags in 2008. That works out to about 335 bags per person. This number is used by jurisdictions all over the country in estimating the impact of bag ordinances.
If the pre-fee bag usage was in fact closer to 300 million, then the post-fee numbers actually indicate significant behavior change, in the neighborhood of a 60-70% reduction, which is similar to what DC has observed since putting its bag fee into effect.
The County also reports that it has collected just over $2 million in revenue through November 2012. Some councilmembers have raised concerns that the revenues are too high. But DC collects $1.8 to 2 million per year from its bag fee, and is only two-thirds the size of Montgomery County (and with fewer businesses subject to the bag fee). Thus Montgomery’s revenue numbers seem to be on track.
In fact, Safeway spokesman Craig Muckle says in the Capital Gazette, “In Montgomery County, Safeway saw a 70 percent drop in plastic bag use at the checkouts from 2011 to 2012. There could be other factors, but I am pretty sure the bag fee has a lot to do with it. We saw similar results from the bag fee in the District.”
Likewise, stream protection organizations are seeing fewer bags in cleanups of their waterways. These results are even being reported by Montgomery County Department of Parks and the Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission.
Montgomery County is a leader for Maryland and has been effective at reducing plastic litter through its disposable bag fee. It’s a shame that one bad number is calling into question all that good work.
UPDATE (2/4/13, 10 pm): The County has issued a response:
"Montgomery County is committed to reducing litter and is committed to the County's Bag Law as one of the primary ways of accomplishing this goal," said Montgomery County Department of Environmental Protection Director Bob Hoyt. "I believe from my own observations when I am shopping, from anecdotal information from others, reports from environmental groups engaged in litter clean ups and reports from retailers about reduced bag use that the Law is working. The Bag Law is changing consumer behavior much in the same way recycling did 20 years ago. We are committed to gathering the appropriate data but are convinced that it will confirm the positive impact the Law is having on Montgomery County's environment."
Trash Free Maryland is very busy in Annapolis right now, working the General Assembly to pass three bills to reduce trash in neighborhoods and waterways across the state.
The three bills are
- disposable bag fee for Maryland. This is the same bill we've been working for three years; it would enact the same 5-cent fee in DC and Montgomery County for the whole state.
- enabling legislation to allow Prince George's County to create its own bag fee. Again, this is the same as the last two years. See www.CleanPrinceGeorges.com for info.
- a statewide bottle deposit. To learn what a bottle deposit is, see our recent article. Learn more about the campaign at Recycle for Real.
Together these bills will dramatically reduce trash in our neighborhoods, streams, and the Chesapeake Bay. All three bills have significantly stronger support in the Assembly this year than they have in the past. However, we still have a lot of work to do.
Prince George's:
A subcommittee vote could happen as soon as next week. We need to generate lots of calls and show citizen support to the delegates. Here's what you and your members can do:
1. Go to www.CleanPrinceGeorges.com to learn more and sign up for updates.
2. Go to www.mdelect.net and look up your state legislators. Call them and say you support the bag fee (both county and statewide) and you hope they do too.
3. Help us phone bank. The first event will be Monday, January 21 from 5 to 7 pm. You may be able to contribute from home. We need 5 volunteers for this.
4. Help us collect signatures from county residents. These events are every Saturday morning.
5. Meet with your legislator. I can help you set this up. You can also come to the Environmental Summit on January 29 from 4:30-6, in Annapolis. More info here.
Statewide bag fee and bottle deposit:
These bills haven't been introduced yet but we still need to show strong citizen support. Here's how you and your members can help:
1. Go to Recycle for Real to learn more about the bottle bill and sign up for updates.
2. Go to www.mdelect.net and look up your state legislators. Call them and say you support the bag fee and bottle deposit and you hope they do too.
3. Write a letter to the editor of your local paper. Describe how litter affects you. I have a tip sheet ready if you need it.
4. Meet with your legislator. I can help you set this up. You can also come to the Environmental Summit on January 29 from 4:30-6, in Annapolis. More info here.
Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions or need any additional information. I have fact sheets and petitions ready to go and can print copies for you. I am also available to present at community meetings.
Also, please let me know if your group is interested in joining the Trash Free Maryland Alliance and/or signing on to the Clean Prince George's coalition. You can also follow us on Facebook and Twitter.
Thanks for your great work improving our communities!
Today Delegate Maggie McIntosh (chair of the Environmental Matters Committee) will announce that she is introducing a bottle bill for Maryland to the General Assembly. For those of us in the trash world, this is a very big deal. But it's a big deal for all Marylanders, too!
A bottle bill, or container deposit, applies a refundable charge to every plastic, glass, and aluminum beverage container sold in the state (generally, milk products are excepted). Yes, your six-pack of beer will cost a few cents more at the store. But when you finish the beverage, you return the empty bottles to a recycling facility, and get that money back! There is no net cost to you.
There is a tremendous cost to uncontrolled trash, though. Both the Anacostia River and Baltimore Harbor are deemed "impaired" by trash under the Clean Water Act. Montgomery, Prince George's, and Baltimore Counties, as well as Baltimore City, are under federal mandate to clean up the mess. Soon, all counties with stormwater permits will also have to address trash. Many of those solutions cost money.
Virtually all of those obligations could be met with this one law.
Beverage containers generally make up at least half of the trash in the Nash Run Trash Trap, maintained by the Anacostia Watershed Society. See this photo from last May, where the trash was sorted by category:
A refundable deposit on those containers will reduce that load to almost zero. People are significantly less inclined to litter when they know the container has value. Those that do "get loose" into the world are quickly picked up by people who cash it in--whether it's youth groups, homeless individuals, or entrepreneurs.
Maryland currently recycles just 22% of these containers. Michigan, which has a 10-cent deposit, recycles 90%!
Container deposits create new jobs in the recycling sector, as people are needed to collect and sort the returned containers.
This is a very exciting proposal for Maryland, and we are delighted to be working with our friends at the Recycle for Real campaign and Chairwoman McIntosh on this opportunity.
Riding my bike to work last week I was struck by the huge volume of trash scattered on the banks of the Northwest Branch near the West Hyattsville Metro station. As usual, it was mostly plastic--bags, takeout containers, foam cups. A 2008 study of trash in the Anacostia River found that three-quarters of it was related to food convenience, all the stuff that we use once and throw away because we are eating on the run.
Of course this trash (generally) isn't thrown directly into the water. It gets tossed out of a car window, or dropped on the sidewalk, or even just blows out of an overflowing trash can. We know a fair amount now about why some people litter but the real answer to cleaning up our community is to motivate people to use less to begin with.
Washington, DC, and Montgomery County have had great success in reducing litter by charging 5 cents on disposable bags. Just that little nickel reminds people to get their reusable bags out of their car before shopping, or to refuse a bag for a small purchase. Businesses save a lot of money when we all use fewer "free" bags. At the same time, people who do use disposable bags are putting their money toward litter cleanup and stream restoration, creating jobs and beautifying our neighborhoods.
Prince George's County deserves the same benefits. The Maryland General Assembly will be considering PG 401-13 this winter, to give the County Council the authority to create a disposable bag reduction program. Your delegates in Annapolis need to hear from you!
Click here to find your delegates' phone numbers, and then take two minutes and call of each of them to tell them you support PG 401-13.
Awesome campaign from Montgomery County reminding people to bring their own bag--and fight litter--when shopping this holiday season. Check out this video!
We love the Potomac Watershed Trash Summit. New partnerships, fresh ideas, engaged elected officials, Potomac Champions, action planning ... what’s not to love? The Alice Ferguson Foundation will host the 7th Annual Potomac Watershed Trash Summit on Wednesday, November 7, at the Silver Spring Civic Building, in Silver Spring, MD, bringing together stakeholders to talk trash, elevating litter as an important environmental issue in the region.
This year we are honored to have the keynote address by Jean-Michel Cousteau, founder and president of the Ocean Futures Society, as well six fantastic sessions. These sessions serve as an opportunity for elected officials, government agencies, businesses, nonprofits and concerned citizens to sit down together and come up with action plans to address the issue of trash. Sessions will include:
Policy: It’s Time to Act! Bring your ideas for how we can use policy to reduce litter and encourage responsible disposal.
Creative Engagement: Expanding the Base Learn about innovative ways people are engaging and inspiring action.
The 4 Rs: Rethink, Reduce, Reuse, Recycle Be challenged to improve our efforts to Rethink, Reduce, Reuse and Recycle at home, in the workplace and within our communities.
Monitoring: Watch it! Craft a set of tools for monitoring litter that can be utilized by partners throughout the region.
Compost: Protecting Our Watershed Help plan a DC region initiative to promote the benefits of utilizing compost to improve stormwater control.
Regional Litter Prevention Campaign: Strengthening the Grassroots Strategize on new ways to mobilize citizens through community-based social marketing.
We love the Trash Summit because it’s a chance to celebrate, learn, and plan with our partners. The critical word here is partners. The Trash Summit, the Trash Free Maryland Alliance, all our actions for a Trash Free Potomac, are only as successful as the partnerships that we build. We hope you will take time to join us on November 7th and be one of those partners.
At long last, the Maryland Department of the Environment has released the draft of the trash Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) for Baltimore Harbor. The regulations described in this document aim to reduce the amount of trash and floatable debris in the middle and northwest branches of the Harbor, fed by the Jones Falls and Gwynns Falls watersheds. The limits are designed to return the Harbor to compliance under the Clean Water Act, by reducing trash to levels that the Harbor ecology can resolve on its own.
We are reviewing the document and will be preparing comments. The draft TMDL is available for download here and as we complete our review we will post summaries and key points for comment here. Please check back!
Public comments are due October 12 to Melissa Chatham at MDE, 1800 Washington Boulevard, Baltimore, MD 21230 or mchatham@mde.state.md.us. An informational briefing will be held on Friday, September 21, from 1 to 3 pm at MDE's offices, also at 1800 Washington Boulevard.
Right-wing think tank Beacon Hill Institute is out with an update to their 2011 report on the DC bag fee. Last year I opted not to respond to their "study" because it seemed so flawed that surely no one would take it seriously. Unfortunately it came up several times during the 2011 and 2012 legislative sessions, so we need to go on record this time about the new misinformation they are circulating.
Gleason contends that the fee failed because it both didn't raise the revenue projected nor has it reduced bag use as much as it could. Of course if disposable bag use dropped 80 to 90 percent or more, almost no one would be paying the fee and thus almost no money would go toward the Anacostia River Cleanup Fund. And that was the design all along! While the CFO initially projected the bag fee would raise $3.6 million in 2010, that projection assumed that people would be slow to adopt the practice of refusing disposable bags. They weren't. Bag use reductions of 60 percent or more were reported by stores within two weeks of the fee taking effect. That's reason to celebrate.
Ultimately we don't want anyone using disposable bags. That means the fund would be empty--which is why the Anacostia River Cleanup and Protection Act also established a speciality license plate and a donation option on income tax forms, so that there would still be revenue streams to fund restoration projects. But the real impact of the fee isn't the Cleanup Fund at all--it's the lack of bags escaping into the environment and polluting our rivers, streams, and neighborhoods. These bags cost the District millions of dollars a year in cleanup and disposal cost--far more than the $2 million the bag fee generates. They also create blight and contribute to the Broken Window Theory--litter begets more litter, neglect, and even crime.
As far as BHI's claim that the bag fee is killing jobs, it's actually creating them. To see more about how the Cleanup Fund is being used, watch this video from the District Department of the Environment:
Is installing trash traps and rain barrels, planting trees, and teaching kids about how littering is wrong, "corrupt" and "a cash grab"?
Gleason laments that bag use has only declined 67 percent. Honestly, that's higher than the number I use, 60 percent, which comes from a combination of anecdotal reports, cleanup data from the Alice Ferguson Foundation (AFF) and Anacostia Watershed Society (AWS), and a 2010 business survey conducted by AFF. He refers to an "80 percent drop expected by bag-tax proponents." We never set expectations; the legislation's fiscal impact statement suggested a 50-percent drop by the end of 2010 and a 90-percent drop by the end of 2014. The sometimes-reported 80-percent drop comes from the fees collected in January 2010, $150,000, which implies that District shoppers went from using 22.5 million bags per month based on 2009 usage estimates to 3 million bags per month. But the numbers don't really work that way, since not all businesses report their tax and fee collections monthly, they are actually remitting only 3-4 cents per bag distributed, and certainly compliance wasn't great in the early weeks. Hopefully we will get to 80 percent as businesses better understand the law and comply with it more broadly.
And it is in businesses' best interest to comply. That 2010 AFF survey showed that 78 percent of businesses--of all sizes--experienced either no impact or a positive impact since the fee took effect. Only 12 percent expressed any negative feeling toward it. What do businesses like about it? Mostly, they save a whole lot of money. Shoppers may think of those bags as "free," but the stores have to buy them. They are one of the largest expenses in the retailer's overhead, behind rent, payroll, and utilities. If 75 percent of shoppers are using fewer of them, that's a lot of money the stores can put back into employee salaries and benefits.
(Remember that you can report a business for violating the disposable bag law on DDOE's website or by calling 202-407-1277! First they receive a warning and education about the law; they are only fined on the second offense.)
As to the BHI claim that District residents are leaving the city to shop to avoid the fee, Safeway is on record as saying that they have seen no evidence of that. No business reported lower sales in the 2010 survey, either. And if people are willing to pay for gas or transit fare only to go to Prince George's County or Virginia--which charges sales tax on groceries--then I question their logic and math skills.
Gleason himself says in his author's note that he avoids the bag fee at all costs. That's exactly what we were going for. Don't pay it--don't use disposable bags! Or as DDOE so succinctly says, Skip the Bag, Save the River.
