What are you giving up for Lent?

Together with Interfaith Partners for the Chesapeake and faith leaders around the state, we are calling on Marylanders to fast from plastic bags in the coming season of Lent. People of the Christian faith often practice fasting to reflect on changes they want to make in their lives. We encourage people of all backgrounds to take these 40 days to consider our throwaway culture and simple steps you can take to protect your community and the environment. Lent begins on Ash Wednesday, February 10, and runs until Easter on March 27.

To inspire you, we're holding a rally on February 9...Mardi Gras! Join us in front of the State House at 9 am. Faith leaders from Prince George's, Anne Arundel, and Baltimore will speak about protecting our common home. We'll have reusable bags, of course, along with festive beads and king cake. Need a ride from Baltimore? Get on the bus!

“For many Christians celebrating Lent, they're preparing to journey with their God and reflect on the changes they want to make in their lives, said Jodi Rose, Executive Director of Interfaith Partners for the Chesapeake. “Fasting is one practice that draws them into that journey. We're challenging Christians to fast from plastic bags this year--and many are embracing this! We live in a throwaway culture that threatens all of Creation. This Lent, we're asking people to reflect on that throwaway culture, their role in it, and how they can be a witness to God's desire that we treasure the sacred around us.”

In response to calls from Maryland businesses and a growing awareness of the problems of plastic pollution, Delegate Brooke Lierman (D-Baltimore City) and Senator Victor Ramirez (D-Prince George’s County) introduced the Community Cleanup and Greening Act in the 2016 session of the Maryland General Assembly.

"It is rare to find a bill that will save businesses and consumers money, while also providing an immeasurable environmental benefit, and the Community Cleanup and Greening Act does just that,” said Delegate Lierman. “I’m so pleased to be sponsoring this urgently needed legislation. The time to help our businesses and save our struggling waters is now, and I am hopeful that the General Assembly will pass this bill this year."

The Community Cleanup and Greening Act bans plastic shopping bags at checkout. According to cleanup data, plastic bags comprise as much as half the trash polluting Maryland waterways, and they are among the most visible forms of street litter, blowing down sidewalks and tangling in trees and fences. Many Maryland counties have stopped accepting plastic bags in residential recycling programs.

To encourage shoppers to use reusable bags, the bill also requires stores to charge 10 cents for each paper bag. Financial disincentives have successfully changed consumer behavior in other cities and counties, including Washington, DC, and Los Angeles County, California. According to the Los Angeles County Department of Public Works, a typical store distributed 2.2 million disposable bags per year before their ordinance took effect in 2011. Beginning in the first month of the law, the same store distributed bags at a rate of 125,000 per year. (That's a 95% decrease!)

Public hearings on the bill (HB 31, SB 57) are scheduled for February 2 and February 10.

Residents to Maryland General Assembly: Get plastic bags out of our communities

FEBRUARY 12, 2015 — A bill introduced this week in the Maryland General Assembly would ban disposable plastic bags across the state, reducing litter and slashing overhead costs for retailers.

At a briefing today sponsored by nonprofit organization Trash Free Maryland, bill sponsor Delegate Brooke Lierman (D-District 46) described the bill as a win for communities, a win for our waterways, a win for retailers, and a win for local governments.

“If passed, this bill will result in cleaner neighborhoods and waterways throughout our state, as well as long-term decreased overhead expenses for our retailers,” added Lierman. “In other words, it is one of those rare win-win opportunities, and I am hopeful that the legislature and Governor will take action to pass this legislation this year.”

The bill, titled the Community Cleanup and Greening Act (HB551 and SB620), would prohibit retailers from giving out plastic bags at checkout, with exceptions for meats, produce, and limited other items. Retailers would also be required to charge 10 cents for each paper bag distributed at checkout, incentivizing shoppers to use reusable bags. Retailers would keep 5 to 7 cents of the charge, with the remainder returning to counties for local programs to reduce trash pollution, distribute free reusable bags, and improve access to fresh foods.

Baltimore residents at the briefing spoke of bags and other litter blighting their neighborhoods around Patterson Park and East Baltimore, diminishing a sense of community pride.

Kim Wiggins is the green coordinator for the Patterson Park neighborhood. She observed that other greening projects are made more difficult by litter in the community.

Cheryl Bryant counted 532 plastic bags on her walk from her home to William Paca Elementary School, where she volunteers. She took some of the students on a field trip to the Prince George’s County recycling center where they learned that, like Baltimore City, Prince George’s does not accept plastic bags at curbside. “Why do we expect people to take their groceries home in these bags?” she wondered.

Rashawn Smith from East Baltimore said of his time working at a grocery store, “I saw bags were a major cost. People use way too many of them, and they are unnecessary. Why do you need a bag for a bag of chips, when it comes in a bag? What are you going to do with it? You’re going to throw it away.”

Steve Raabe of OpinionWorks, an independent research firm based in Annapolis, spoke about the findings of a 2013 DC Department of the Environment survey of 177 businesses. The survey found that half of business owners reported saving money on bags, and only 8% of business owners oppose the bill.

“Litter is increasingly visible along many of our roads. The vast majority of the litter is plastic bags or plastic wrappings,” said Senator Karen Montgomery (D-District 14), the bill’s lead sponsor in the Senate. “This bill will also relieve the merchants of the cost of the paper bags they can offer since the charge covers that expense. Let’s clean up all our neighborhoods and our waterways. “