We banned the bead!

Quick update, ahead of a longer statement later this week:

The General Assembly gave final passage to HB216, ban on microbeads in personal care products, last night!

The ban applies to all microbeads made of traditional plastic as well as any so-called biodegradable plastics that cannot biodegrade in wastewater treatment and marine environments. Products on store shelves will start changing in 2018, with all plastic microbeads off the shelves by the end of 2019.

The standards for this biodegradation are still being developed, so MDE will be required to review standards every few years to make sure we have the newest, most stringent regulations. The idea here is that it will be a big pain for manufacturers to reformulate every time the standards change, so they will be strongly motivated to switch to natural alternative ingredients.

At this time, this law is the strongest ban in the country! California had their first hearing yesterday, and they hope to use our bill, and the progress we made in conversations with the industry, to push for even more. Oregon and Minnesota are also still in play.

We have three action items now:
- Celebrate! This is a really big deal!
- Say thank you, particularly to Chairman Kumar Barve and Chairwoman Joan Carter Conway, Delegate Dan Morhaim, and Senator Pinsky. I would also give shoutouts to Delegates Barbara Frush, David Fraser Hidalgo, Clarence Lam, Steve Lafferty, and Jim Gilchrist, and Senator Karen Montgomery.
- Keep educating your networks about microbeads, and alternative products. It's still going to be several years before these things are off store shelves, so now it's on us to get people to stop using them.

Congratulations, team!

Fish don't need exfoliants

UPDATE 3/12: The Senate formally passed the bill today, again unanimously. This is very exciting! Now...on to the House.

Today the Maryland Senate gave preliminary approval to SB200, which prohibits the manufacture and sale of plastic microbeads in personal care products as of 2018. The bill includes a ban on bioplastics that cannot be proven to biodegrade in the marine environment.

A single bottle of face wash or tube of toothpaste can contain more than 300,000 microbeads. Designed to be washed down the drain, these plastic pellets are too small to be captured by wastewater treatment facilities, so they end up in local waters, the Chesapeake Bay, and the oceans. These particles absorb chemicals from the water like pesticides and PCBs, and are also mistaken for food by fish. This is not good news for the Bay's fisheries or our food chain.

More than two dozen states are considering legislation to ban these products, in an effort to push manufacturers to reformulate their products to use natural ingredients like oatmeal and apricot stones. Maryland could become the first to pass such a ban that includes bioplastics.

The final Senate vote is expected this week. The House is still working on similar legislation. Click here to find your state representatives and call them to ask them to support SB200 and HB216 with amendments to close the loophole for bioplastics.

Meanwhile, what should you do with products you may already have? Check your bathroom cabinets for products that include polyethylene or polypropylene and stop using them. You can send the unused product to us (email me for info) or to The Story of Stuff Project for demonstration and education projects.

Our 2015 Maryland legislative agenda

On Wednesday, a new General Assembly will be sworn in, ushering in a new legislative session that may run very differently from the past four years. Even though the Assembly still has a veto-proof Democratic majority, Republican Governor-elect Hogan, a clear anti-tax mandate from voters, and a looming budget deficit have many progressive campaigns in a defensive posture.

Trash, however, has proven to affect everyone, from urban neighborhoods to rural farmland to the fishing community in the Chesapeake Bay. There are also a lot of ways to tackle the trash problem, and our goal is to work with the new Assembly to find common ground on solutions to keep making progress on reducing trash pollution across Maryland.

That said, we are focusing our efforts on three campaigns in 2015:

- Plastic bags. Bag bans and fees are proliferating rapidly around the US, with California passing the first state-level ban on plastic bags in 2014. In Los Angeles County, a two-year-old ban on plastic bags (with a 10-cent charge on paper) has reduced total disposable bag use by 90 percent. That's all the plastic bags, plus a drop in paper bags. It's an incredibly compelling solution to get shoppers to use reusable bags.

As we know in nearby DC, a 60-percent drop in bag use following a disposable bag fee turned into a 60-percent drop in bags found in streams and parks. Imagine cutting bag pollution in our state by 90 percent!

Bags are also a tremendous expense for retailers, sometimes as much as their third-highest overhead cost. If they no longer have to buy plastic bags, and can cut paper bag use, that savings can go back into the business, spurring investment, growth, and better pay and benefits for workers.

In 2015, Trash Free Maryland proposes that Maryland ban plastic bags and put a small fee on paper bags, motivating consumers to use reusable bags. The program pays for itself, reduces litter (and the inherent cleanup costs), and saves retailers money.

- Microbeads. A tube of toothpaste can contain as many as 300,000 plastic beads, all for color. (See those blue specks on your toothbrush?) A bottle of face wash, too. (Those are for exfoliating dead skin.) But they all wash down the drain, slip through wastewater treatment plants, and wind up in our rivers and the Bay.

Made of polyethylene, the beads absorb toxic chemicals like pesticides and fertilizers, becoming toxic balls that aquatic life mistake for food. Dentists even report finding tiny blue beads in their patients' gums. The beads are quite visible in samples from our recent Chesapeake Bay Trash Trawl.

Natural alternatives are readily available, including walnut shells, apricot stones, and even salt or sugar. Instead of washing synthetic beads into our waterways, we need to push manufacturers to redesign their products. Several major manufacturers have agreed to voluntary phaseouts, but their timelines are a decade away. Can we afford to let our fish continue to mistake these beads for food, polluting our food chain from the bottom up?

Virginia, Pennsylvania, Vermont, Hawaii, and California will all be considering legislation to ban the sale of microbead-laden products this year. Like the ban on phosphorus in detergents, these state-level bans will drive manufacturers to reformulate their products nationwide and prevent this plastic pollution from increasing on a global scale.

Trash Free Maryland asks the General Assembly to ban the sale of personal care products containing microbeads, to protect our local fisheries and the Bay.

- Enforcement. While source reduction is key, we also need to get serious about penalizing the people who contribute to the trash pollution problem. Last year we passed a bill to put points on the drivers licenses of people convicted of illegal dumping, creating a statewide penalty system and a more meaningful punishment.

We know that people litter as a rebellious act, in part because they believe they won't get caught--or if they do, the punishment will be light. Bolstering enforcement has tremendous potential to not just stop repeat offenders, but prevent other littering and dumping behavior too.

We are eager to work with legislators to identify targeted solutions, whether it's mandating community service picking up trash, streamlining the citation process to make convictions easier (and more likely to stick), or specific approaches for problem items like tires or construction debris.

We'll also be tracking related legislation as it's introduced, and working with sponsors and other advocates to pass good policies to achieve a trash free Maryland. Stay tuned for updates, and have a great session!

Mid-February Legislative Update

We are one month into the three-month session of the Maryland General Assembly. Here's a quick report on bills we are following:

SB707/HB718 Community Cleanup and Greening Act: This is the bag bill. This year we are proposing that all counties in the state receive authority to enact their own fees on disposable bags. Right now only Baltimore City, Baltimore County, and Montgomery County have such authority. The bills are sponsored by Senator Jamie Raskin and Delegate Al Carr, both of Montgomery County.
Hearings: Friday, February 21, Environmental Matters Committee (House) and Tuesday, February 25, Education, Health, and Environmental Affairs Committee (Senate)

HB1049 Prince George's County Authority to Impose Fees for Use of Disposable Bags: This is a local version of HB718, applying only to Prince George's County. The sponsors are Senator Paul Pinsky and Delegate Barbara Frush. We are waiting for a discussion and hearing to be scheduled in the County Affairs subcommittee of the Prince George's County House Delegation.

SB394 Statewide Container Recycling Refund Program: This is the container deposit, or bottle bill. It would create a system where the purchase of each bottle and can would include a five-cent deposit, refundable when the consumer returns the container for recycling at an authorized location. The bill is sponsored by Senator Brian Frosh of Montgomery County.
Hearing: Thursday, February 20, Education, Health, and Environmental Affairs Committee (Senate)

HB405 Sales of Nonbiodegradable Cigarettes – Prohibited: This bill, sponsored by Baltimore County Delegate Jon Cardin, proposed to require all cigarettes sold in Maryland have biodegradable filters. While the intent of the bill is to reduce trash pollution, we had concerns for unintended consequences, and submitted informational testimony, described on our blog yesterday. The bill was heard in the Economic Matters Committee of the House last week but was already voted down.

SB56/HB240 Solid Waste Management Practices – Maryland Recycling and Landfill Diversion Task Force: This bill proposes a task force to study raising the recycling minimum standards and reducing maximum landfill rates for municipal solid waste in the counties. Trash Free Maryland is named as a participant in the task force, but because of a lack on consensus among Alliance members, we took no position on the bill. The sponsors are Senator Mac Middleton of Charles County and Delegate Steve Lafferty of Baltimore County. Hearings were held in Economic Matters and Education, Health, and Environmental Affairs on February 6 and February 11, respectively.

SB390/HB386 Illegal Dumping and Litter Control Law – Driver's License – Points: This local bill would allow Baltimore City to add the addition of 8 points to the driver's license of people convicted of illegal dumping while using a motor vehicle. Eight points is the same penalty applied in drunk driving and hit-and-run convictions, and generally results in an immediate license suspension. We supported the bill in hearings last week (in Judiciary and Judicial Proceedings), because stronger enforcement of litter laws will likely prevent the dumping in the first place. The bills were introduced by the Baltimore City delegation at the request of the mayor.
Updated 2/26: This bill would apply statewide, not just in Baltimore City. An amended version (lowering the points from 8 to 2–5) has passed the House and is now being considered in the Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee.

SB566 Littering – Mandatory Public Service: This bill, introduced by Senator Bryan Simonaire of Anne Arundel County, would add litter cleanup requirements to all littering convictions. The service requirement would be 8 to 24 hours, based on the quantity of trash littered.
Hearing: February 19, Judicial Proceedings Committee (Senate)

If only butts just went away...

Last week the Economic Matters Committee heard testimony and voted on on HB 405, which proposed prohibiting the sale of cigarettes unless the filters are made of biodegradable material. Delegate Jon Cardin introduced the bill to call attention to the significant pollution problem that littered cigarette butts pose to our neighborhoods and waterways. (In the 2012 International Coastal Cleanup, Maryland volunteers collected 10,243 cigarette butts!)

Making these commonly littered items biodegradable seems like a good idea to help reduce the amount of trash pollution that persists in our environment. Many smokers believe their used butts are biodegradable or don’t substantially contribute to trash pollution. As demonstrated in outreach and behavior change projects conducted by the Surfrider Foundation and Keep America Beautiful, however, many smokers do properly dispose of their used filters once educated on the real impacts. A public discussion of the current degradability of -- or lack thereof -- these filters could have positive impacts on behavior and litter in our neighborhoods and waterways. This bill could serve to stimulate that outreach.

But are biodegradable filters the answer? Maybe not. Our friends at the Cigarette Butt Pollution Project have some thoughts:

All littered filters are harmful to marine life. Regardless of what the filters are made of, they are designed to reduce toxic chemicals inhaled by smokers. A recent study in California demonstrated that the chemicals that leach out of used filters kill top smelt and flat-headed minnows. The chemicals from just one used filter killed half the fish living in a 1-liter container of water. Whether these filters are made out of cellulose acetate or bioplastics, the risks of toxicity remain.

Smokers might be motivated to litter more. Smokers who currently dispose of their used filters properly could revert to littering their filters if they know the filters are labeled as biodegradable. This predelicition was raised in focus groups conducted by the tobacco industry during other studies of the viability of biodegradable or filterless cigarettes.

“Biodegradable” filters still do not completely go away. Cellulose acetate filters use 12,000 strands of plastic to capture chemicals in tobacco. The material photodegrades but does not biodegrade; the sun breaks it into smaller and smaller pieces that are ingested by marine creatures or absorbed into the soil, but ultimately the strands still exist. Filters labeled as biodegradable are made of bioplastics, plastic-like compounds from plant origins like starch. Unfortunately bioplastics are also not completely biodegradable, particularly in the water where the surrounding temperatures are generally too cold to promote degradation.

One option could be to require filterless cigarettes. Filters may give smokers false assurances of the safety of smoking and delay cessation efforts. By removing the filters entirely, we could reduce the problem of toxic litter as well as the public health threat of smoking overall.

Ultimately the bill failed this year, but we hope the issue continues to come up.

Our statement about the bag fee's failure

On Saturday, March 23, the Economic Matters Committee of the Maryland House of Delegates voted down a measure that would have enabled counties to establish a 5-cent fee on disposable bags. The vote, 14-9 on a motion for an unfavorable report, effectively ended the possibility of passing a statewide bag law in 2013.

The Community Cleanup and Greening Act (HB 1086) originally proposed to enact the fee statewide, for the purpose of encouraging shoppers to replace disposable plastic and paper bags with reusable bags, reducing litter and improving county recycling streams. The Environmental Matters Committee passed the amended bill on Friday, March 22, by a vote of 17-4.

The bill was sponsored by Delegates Mary Washington (D-District 43, Baltimore City) and Michael Summers (D-District 47, Prince George's County), with 32 additional cosponsors. A companion bill in the Senate was sponsored by Senators Jamie Raskin (D-District 20, Montgomery County) and Brian Frosh (D-District 16, Montgomery County).

"We are very disappointed in the outcome," said Julie Lawson, Director of the Trash Free Maryland Alliance. "Our team, from grassroots activists to the bill's sponsors, ran an effective campaign and achieved a lot of momentum. We were very close to passing this bill and giving counties a tool they need to reduce pollution."

The committee vote came a day after a dramatic debate over the transportation fund on the House floor. Following the controversy, delegates who had previously expressed support for the bill flipped their positions.

"We are very grateful to Chairwoman Maggie McIntosh, Chairman Dereck Davis, and Speaker Mike Busch for their support in getting the bill so far," added Lawson. "Trash Free Maryland looks forward to continuing to work with them on ways to clean up Maryland's neighborhoods and waterways."

*****

The Trash Free Maryland Alliance is a network of 60 organizations, businesses, and activists committed to reducing litter in Maryland, by pursuing policies at the state and local level.

Bag bill moving through House

This morning the Environmental Matters Committee of the Maryland House of Delegates passed HB1086, the Community Cleanup and Greening Act. It was amended from the original bill and now will enable all counties in the state to pass a disposable bag fee in order to reduce bag litter in their neighborhoods and streams.

Under current law, only Montgomery County, Baltimore County, and Baltimore City can establish this type of program. This proposal will allow all counties to establish a fee like Montgomery County has, where revenue is used for environmental purposes and to establish a program to assist low-income and elderly residents. Montgomery County residents have reduced their use of disposable bags by 60-70% since the fee took effect a year ago.

The committee voted 17-4 for a favorable report on the bill. Economic Matters must now also give it a favorable report before the bill reaches the House floor.

Update from Annapolis

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!

Join us for Lobby Night!

Want to get directly involved in educating lawmakers about litter, and how they can help stop it at the source? Join us for the Trash Free Maryland Lobby Night on Monday, February 27! We'll set up meetings for you and give you the training you need to visit your representatives and have your moment in the sun.

We'll convene for training in the Miller Senate Building (11 Bladen Street, Annapolis) from 5 pm until whenever you can stay. To sign up for the event, fill out the form here, and we'll be in touch!

If you can't make it on Monday, you'll have additional chances on March 5 and March 12. Fill out the same form and make a note where appropriate.

The report of the bill's death was an exaggeration

The Prince George's County bag bill (PG 402-12) got the Mark Twain treatment from the Washington Post and elsewhere yesterday. More to come, but the County Affairs committee vote yesterday has merely slowed--not stopped--the bill's progress in the General Assembly. It is a powerful reminder that supporters need to speak up, though! The plastics industry is paying for hundreds of robocalls, giving a false impression about support in the County.

Email--or even better, call--your delegates (especially Delegate Veronica Turner of District 26) today and tell them that you support a fee on disposable plastic and paper bags, and that they should too. More specifics about the campaign are posted on our County Campaign tab.

Contact your representatives!

As we wrote in November, Prince George's County is working toward a five-cent fee on plastic and paper bags, to reduce litter and save money for shoppers, businesses, and the county government. In order to bring the matter to the County Council, first the Maryland General Assembly has to give the county authority.

We have a new email action alert system to allow you to easily show your support of this proposal. When you sign, an email is sent to your delegates and senator that represent you in Annapolis. You can also include a note about why you think this legislation is a good idea.

Send an email by clicking here. We also encourage you to call. Your representatives' phone numbers are listed when you enter your zip code at the action alert, or you can search by your address here.