zero waste

NJ's statewide ban on single-use carryout bags and polystyrene foam containers was a huge victory made possible in part by the 50 plus local ordinances banning these and other single-use disposables. This just goes to show how powerful local policies can be in creating larger change. So what else can municipalities do?

Despite so many challenges, we accomplished so much in 2020. One of our biggest victories in New Jersey was helping pass legislation banning single-use carryout bags and polystyrene foam food containers, while also limiting unnecessary use of plastic straws by requiring restaurants to provide them only upon request! This is a huge step forward but we still have a long way to go to fight plastic pollution and climate change. So what else can we do?

Amidst this time of hardship and uncertainty, we bring you some good news: Governor Murphy has signed a food waste recycling mandate (A2371/S865) that will help keep food waste out of landfills and implement more sustainable practices.

Imagine a world without plastic waste. For Plastic Free July, millions of people around the globe are working to make this vision a reality by stopping the use of single-use disposable plastics for one month.

This morning, the Baltimore City Council's Judiciary and Legislative Investigations Committee held a public hearing on Resolution "for the purpose of inviting the Director of the Department of Public Works, the Head of the Bureau of Solid Waste, the Director of the Office of Sustainability, the Coordinator of the Office of Sustainability, and the City Arborist to update the City Council on the City’s progress toward creating a municipal composting program, to provide a fiscal impact statement on creating the program, and to estimate a time line for Citywide implementation of municipal compo

On Friday, people from all across Maryland came together in Annapolis for a day of action about HB961/SB548: bipartisan legislation to remove trash incineration from Maryland's Renewable Portfolio Standard and stop subsidizing it with millions of dollars each year, meant to support wind and solar development.

Yesterday, the Senate Finance Committee held a public hearing on SB548: legislation to take trash incineration out of Maryland's Renewable Portfolio Standard and stop giving it subsidies intended to support the development of wind, solar, and other renewable forms of energy. With a team of Baltimore City and Anne Arundel County residents, we spoke out about the air quality, health, and climate impacts of trash incineration, and the reality of zero waste alternatives like composting, recycling, and source reduction.

On September 21, the Maryland Department of the Environment held a public hearing to conclude a nearly two-year process to update air pollution regulations for municipal waste incinerators in Maryland: the BRESCO facility in Baltimore, and the Dickerson facility in Curtis Bay.

The answer on whether to choose paper or plastic is neither. The best environmentally friendly solution is to avoid single-use items altogether in favor of reusables.