NY needs a plastic bag ban: We're taking the message to Albany
June 4, 2018
Riverkeeper Team
This spring, with your help, we cleaned up tons of plastic pollution from the shorelines and collected thousands of signatures in support of an effective statewide plastic bag ban for New York.
This week, we're hand-delivering the message to Albany, in a bunch of reusable bags.
Riverkeeper and 16 allied groups will carry bags of petitions to Governor Cuomo's office this Wednesday, June 6, asking support for the New York State Bring Your Own Bag Act (Senate Bill S7760 and Assembly bill A9953). We will meet with legislators throughout the day to seek their support.
It's a critical time to speak up. Can we count you in? You can send a message to the Governor and your state representatives by clicking here. You can join a call-in by texting "June 6" to 21333.
Joining us in Albany will be 350Brooklyn, Alliance for the Great Lakes, Citizens Campaign for the Environment, Citizens Committee for New York City, Green Education and Legal Fund, Hudson River Sloop Clearwater, Inc, New York League of Conservation Voters, North American Climate, Conservation and Environment, Natural Resources Defense Council, NYC Friends of Clearwater, New York Public Interest Research Group, Save the Sound, Sierra Club Atlantic Chapter, The Nature Conservancy, and United for Action.
Together with 100 other organizations across the state, we were heartened to see the Governor introduce bag ban legislation. But based on the evidence, a bag ban must be accompanied by a fee on other disposable bags. These are proven policies that reduce plastic pollution and foster a culture of using reusable bags. And effective local laws should remain in effect, unless a new statewide law is equal to or stronger than the local ones.
If you volunteered at Riverkeeper Sweep, you've seen the scale of this pollution problem and you know that plastic is damaging to life in our rivers and oceans.
Help us ask state leaders to do their part.
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