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Baltimore banned plastic bags!
Yesterday morning, we gathered with Baltimore City residents, advocates, Council members, state delegates, and Mayor Young for the final signing of legislation we've been working for over the past six months: the Comprehensive Bag Reduction Act! This city legislation bans plastic checkout bags in Baltimore, and puts a 5-cent fee on paper and other bags to make up the extra cost of purchasing these bags on stores, and encourage the use of reusable bags. In the past several years, plastic bags have become increasingly difficult to recycle - for example, MOMS Organic Market stopped accepting
Basement sewage backups: a public hearing and next steps
Last month, we gathered at Baltimore City Hall with City Council members, community association presidents, faith leaders, insurance and health experts, and people from all across the city who have been impacted by the problem of sewage backing up into their home. This chronic problem impacts thousands of people each year - and as we have learned over the past year, the newest city program intended to help isn't working. Before the public hearing, people from across the city spoke out about their experiences at a rally outside of city hall: please watch and share our Facebook livestream!
The
The Baltimore City Council investigates sewage floods
"Raw sewage is bad for human health - this is universal." -Chris Heaney, Associate Professor for Environmental Health and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University
On Wednesday November 13th , I attended a hearing that the Baltimore City Council's Land Use Committee held for Resolution 19-0159, an investigation into sewage backups into buildings and the city's Expedited Reimbursement Program, set up to assist residents with the costs associated with sewer backups. The backup of sewage into Baltimore homes is a big problem, and only increasing with factors such a climate change causing more
Touring the Patapsco Wastewater Treatment Plant
On October 15th, I visited the Patapsco Wastewater Treatment Plant on a tour with Baltimore Heritage. Though the plant was originally constructed in 1940, the iteration that exists today was finished in 1985 and treats wastewater: 90% from households, and 10% from industrial sources. This wastewater comes from South and West Baltimore city, along with Baltimore, Anne Arundel and Howard Counties. The plant is 68 acres and has the capacity to process 63 million gallons of water a day and has a four stage treatment process, from preliminary, to primary, secondary, and tertiary. How does the
A Confusing Week for Baltimore's Plastic Bag Ban
On Monday October 7 at 1:00 pm, I attended the Baltimore City Council Judiciary Committee's work session on the Plastic Bag Reduction Bill ( #19-0401). It had to do with redefinition of a banned "plastic checkout bag" from a maximum thickness of 4 mils (thousandths of an inch) to a mazimum thickness of 2.25 mils. This would mean that distribution of plastic bags below 2.25 mils would be disallowed, and distribution of those between 2.25 and 4 mils to customers would be standard. In essence, a slightly thicker bag would be standard to encourage a false spirit of reusability. According to Cailey