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Plastic Bag Bills
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Caution: Danger of suffocation for plastic bag bills in the Virginia General Assembly!
LATEST UPDATE: The Virginia Senate Finance Committee "failed to report" SB139, while the House of Delegates Finance Committee "indefinitely passed by" HB981, sending them to a quiet death, like every year, tossed out like trash and washing in tatters down a Richmond storm drain. Meanwhile, the Senate local Government Committee left SB193 on life support, "continued to 2019" with a request for a Virginia Department of Environmental Quality study of the issue. We shall see if a miraculous recovery occurs in the next session. Although they are gone, they need not be forgotten. Anytime is the right time to let your state legislators know you support similar bills. - January 25, 2018 See Friends of Accotink Creek General Assembly testimony in support of plastic bag bills. Virginia Senate bill SB139 and House bill HB981 each proposes a 5-cent cost to disposable plastic bags (with exceptions for meat, drugs, etc.). Virginia Senate bill SB193 would permit localities to impose disposable bag bans. These bills share the goal of reducing the plague of plastic trash afflicting our environment.
Now is the time for all good persons to come to the aid of their watershed!
The Friends of Accotink Creek spoke before the annual Fairfax County General Assembly public hearing in support of plastic bag bills. Find your Virginia legislators HERE, and let them know you support SB139, HB981, and SB193. Some text you can use as a model. Modify or personalize as appropriate: The Friends of Accotink Creek urge your support for SB139, HB981, and SB193, to control the sale of disposable plastic bags. We strongly endorse and support efforts like this to reduce trash in local watersheds. As a Virginia legislator, we encourage you to support the work of your many constituents who participate in stream cleanups, by voting for SB139 and HB981, imposing a five-cent cost on disposable plastic bags, and SB193, authorizing localities to impose bans. Each year Friends of Accotink Creek and other civic groups mobilize volunteers who clean tons of plastic bags and containers, as well as other trash and debris, from streams that feed into the Chesapeake Bay. Across the United States, millions of tons of plastic waste is washed from streets into waterways, fouling waters for both marine life and human usage. Reducing consumer consumption of plastic bags, by means of bans, restrictions, and/or taxes, is an effective way to reduce the amount of plastic trash that enters our watersheds, and flows downstream to the Potomac River, and the Chesapeake Bay. Besides being an eyesore and a burden to remove, this noxious litter refuses to go away, only breaking down into toxic particles that will be with us forever. - January 7, 2018
Let's get the bags out of Accotink Creek!
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