Celebrate Earth Day; Support the Bag Bill

Today is Earth Day. What a better way to celebrate than by supporting the Montgomery County Bag Bill? Go to Surfrider.com and send a letter in support of the bill. Never has a five cent fee done so much for the environment!

To put this in perspective....
At the beginning of the month, many of us spent the morning pulling trash out of the creek - over 4 dozen 50-gallon bags worth. A large percentage of the trash was bags - cheap plastic bags that grocery stores and other businesses pass out with every transaction. We found bags from Safeway, Giant, CVS as well as generic "have a nice day" bags. They were stuck in the rocks, festooning the bushes, scattered on the banks.

DC instituted a 5 cent bag fee last year and found that plastic bags litter in the Anacostia River was reduced by over 60 percent. Merchants reported passing out 220 million fewer bags (a savings for them too.) People didn't go broke buying bags as some predicted; instead they adjusted and started bringing their own bags, or sticking the items in their purses, briefcases or pockets. It was amazing how a small fee could change a behavior. Some business simply stopped carrying bags all together. There just wasn't a demand for them any more.

This bill will work in Montgomery County too. Like in DC, this little charge can have a big impact. It will reduce the amount of litter in the environment, thus lowering cleanup costs incurred by the County. Businesses will save money because they don't have to purchase as many bags. Any revenues from the fee will be dedicated to the Water Quality Protection Fund, used for stormwater projects and watershed protection.

So please celebrate Earth Day by sending a letter to the Montgomery County Council members. The Alice Ferguson Foundation has a lot of good information if you need talking points. Surfrider.com has set-up a letter page and Council member email addresses can be found on the Montgomery County Council website.

The letters do not have to be long or persuasive. A simple "I support the bag fee. Please vote for this." is fine.

Happy Earth Day to Everyone,
Sarah Morse

Creek Cleaned; Thank You Everyone!

Sorry, we have no pictures (need to remember to find volunteer photographer), but we had a quality turn out on Saturday for the Annual Creek Sweep. Over 50 bags of trash and recyclables were pulled from the creek as well as a ladder, a shovel, plastic flower pots, various clothing, four cell phones and more! Visit the Alice Ferguson website to get a report on how the other sites did.

Thank you especially to Jackie's Girl Scout troop, the Cub Scout Bears from Wood Acres ES and the group from Stone Ridge. These kids were enthusiastic cleaners!

We won't have another big clean-up until next year, but if you are interested in cleaning the creek, send us an email at stormwater@LFWA.org and we can direct you to the worst spots and arrange for bags, gloves and pick-up. We also have a once a month creek clean-up between Mass Ave and River Road on Little Falls Parkway. Visit our website at www.LFWA.org/events for details.

And if you are reading this and have any pictures that we could post, please let me know! A picture tells a thousand words.

Thanks for thinking about the environment,
Sarah Morse