Last Saturday, 16 volunteers cleaned up Little Falls Parkway. Along with 6 bags of plastic bottles, they picked up hundreds of bags blow out of garbage trucks or just thrown out of car windows. The problem is not as great in DC as they have a bag tax. When you buy something a District grocery store or any store, they are required to ask if you want a bag. If you do, it cost 5 cents. Just this little tax has reduced the number of bags found in the Anacostia by 40 percent.
In Maryland, we have a Bag fee bill in Annapolis now. If you are a MD resident, please contact your representative TODAY (click on representative) and ask them to support the Clean the Streams and Beautify the Bay Act of 2011. This important bill will reduce the number of bags we find in our cleanups AND the money collected will go to Chesapeake Bay Trust to support environmental education and restoration.
If the link above doesn't work, go to http://action.surfrider.org/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=2257
There is a form ready for you to send.
Sarah Morse
Co-President, Little Falls Watershed Alliance