New Jersey’s Plastics Ban: In 2018, New Jersey passed a fee for single use plastic and paper bags provided to customers. In early 2019, Governor Murphy vetoed the bill and told state lawmakers to create a stronger bill. The New Jersey state legislature responded with a bill to ban businesses from providing single use plastic or paper bags, expanded polystyrene (Styrofoam) food and beverage containers, and plastic straws will only be available upon request. Businesses and residents will have 18 months to adjust to the changes that will become effective in May 2022. An important aspect of New Jersey’s plastic ban is $1.5 million over a three year period that will be used to fund a public education campaign and to provide free reusable bags. New Jersey is expecting to hand out at least 2 million reusable bags. Read the entire story about this first of its kind legislation here!
(Plastic waste in a Fairfax County Creek. Photo credit Clean Fairfax)
Green Recovery: As the US and the world look to rebuild after the pandemic, the environmentally and socially responsible solution is also back by economics. A “Green” recovery plan boosts income, employment, and GDP more than if we return to life as we knew with an economic focus on fossil fuels. A new analysis used five pieces from a green recovery plan to determine the cost difference of a green recovery or a return to normal scenario.
The five pieces analyzed in the study were:
- Public investment in energy efficiency
- Subsidies for wind and solar power
- Public investment in upgrading electricity grids
- Car scrappage schemes in which subsidies are only provided to electric vehicles
- Tree planting programs.
A green recovery in the US would result in 1 million more jobs by 2024 and would result in a 7% reduction in global greenhouse gas emissions by 2030. Where do all these extra jobs come from? For every $1 million invested in fossil fuels there are 5.3 full time jobs created. That same investment towards energy efficiency and renewable technology there are 16.7 full time jobs created. It doesn’t matter who you voted for, 16.7 will always be more than 5.3 and those jobs will be better paying and healthier for both the worker, and the consumer. What’s not to love? Read the entire analysis on the importance of a green recovery here!
Plastic Facility Permit Suspension: We share a lot of stories about the expanding footprint of plastic manufacturing facilities. Today we have a better story. The Army Corps of Engineers has announced they will be suspending the permits for the construction of a $9.4 billion plastics facility in Louisiana that would be owned by the Taiwanese company Formosa Plastics. If this permit is approved, emissions from the plant would triple the levels of cancer-causing airborne chemicals in the area. This new facility would be more toxic than 99.6% of all facilities that contain cancer causing chemicals. Here’s the full story about why the Army Corps of Engineers decided to suspend Formosa’s permit.
This is a good step, but we need to maintain our opposition to the expansion of plastic production facilities. Big plastic will not stop their push, we won’t stop our opposition. Southern Louisiana sounds pretty far away, Cumberland County Virginia is not far away. Cumberland County is the home of a recently announced site for a new plastic facility. Hurt, Virginia outside of Lynchburg is not far away, a new plastics facility is expected to begin operating there next year. Economic development is a good thing, but doing so at the expense of human health and the environment is immoral. It is no surprise plastic facilities like these and other dirty industries are built in Virginia in communities with median annual income 43% lower than the Virginia average. Communities need jobs–yes, but not jobs that expose people to cancer-causing chemicals.
(Sprouting in compost. Photo Credit Fairfax County. Retrieved from https://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/news2/compost-your-food-waste/)
Composting Help: With the Virginia outdoor planting season coming to an end, now is the time to be preparing your garden for winter and next spring! If you’ve been buying compost you may be SHOCKED to know that you can make your own for almost FREE! Composting is also a great way to deal with the EPIC amounts of waste we all send to the landfill or incinerator every week, it can reduce a household’s waste stream by 50%. Compost is called “black gold” because it is extremely rich in plant nutrients that are best used as fertilizer. You can get started with a simple $50 composter that you keep in your kitchen or you can go all out with a self aeration composting system. Here is a helpful article to help you sort through several types of composting systems! We even have a few options on our website under sustainable living if you want to check them out.
