Senate Bill 57/ House Bill 31
Sponsors: Del. Brooke Lierman and Sen. Victor Ramirez
- Description of the Legislation
- IPC's Stance
- 6 Ways to Take Action
Description of the Legislation:
Plastic bags account for a significant portion of trash and litter pollution in our neighborhood streets, communities, and waterways, including streams and rivers that flow to the Chesapeake Bay. Following successful models of bag bans in Washington, D.C. and Los Angeles County, this legislation proposes a statewide ban on plastic bags. Details include:
Ban plastic disposable bags and require most retailers to use only paper
- Charge 10 cents for each paper bag requested by a customer
- Proceeds of the fee will be distributed by counties to be used to compensate retailers for the elevated cost of the paper bags and contribute additional proceeds to fund fresh food initiatives, bag giveaways, and community cleanup and greening efforts
- Allow stores to establish credit programs to incentivize recyclable bag use
- According to Trash Free Maryland, since the enactment of similar legislation in Washington D.C., results have shown a 60% reduction in bag use, and a 72% reduction in litter. Only 8% of D.C. business owners oppose the law and its implementation.
Why are we using fossil fuels that have been in the Earth for millions of years in order to produce a plastic bag that will be used once and thrown away? IPC supports legislation to encourage people to change their habitual use of plastic bags because of the severe degradation plastic causes in our ecosystem. We must live in harmony with all of Creation around us. By simply making it impossible to use plastic bags, we will begin to break ourselves of this damaging addiction to plastic. IPC envisions a time when our children and grandchildren will no longer use non-degradable plastic bags and using reusable bags will be as second-nature as putting on your seat belt.
Here are six actions you can take to add your voice to the movement! Click on the links for detailed instructions and then sign up!
For some of our Christian followers here are six great ways to begin your season of Lent.
- Attend the Bag Ban Rally on Feb. 9th. Click ACTION 1 for details.
- Call or write my elected officials to encourage them to support the bill. Click ACTION 2 for details.
- Host a "Bag It" Movie showing at my home or congregation. Click ACTION 3 for details.
- Coordinate a letter writing campaign at my congregation to help more people get involved. Click ACTION 4 for details.
- Participate in a stream clean up or organize a church group to help. Click ACTION 5 for details.
- Take a "plastic fast" during lent. Click ACTION 6 for details.
To express your support for this bill, we always encourage you to call or write your legislator. You can find your legislator here.
Click HERE to learn safety tips for using reusable bags and bins.