The opportunity to play an active role in protecting the communities, natural spaces, and people of Fairfax County is an opportunity I will never forget. I will always be a Virginian and Bailey’s Crossroads will always be home- Fairfax County has shaped who I was as a child and who I am as an adult. …

Break Free From Plastic Pollution Act The Break Free From Plastic Pollution Act (BFFPPA) has been reintroduced to the 117th Congress! We’ve written and spoken at length about this bill in the past and are enthusiastically supporting it again this year. Some of the highlights of the BFFPPA include: a nationwide bottle deposit program, a …

Governor Northam signs the ban on expanded polystyrene Virginia is joining a handful of states and the long awaited ban on expanded polystyrene (Styrofoam) food and beverage service containers has been signed into law! Large chain restaurants have until July 2023 to phase out EPS containers. Businesses with less than 20 locations have until 2025. …

The 2021 General Assembly is coming to an end and there were definitely environmental successes. We will forever remember the 2021 General Assembly by the words of Senator Chap Petersen, “The great polystyrene compromise of 2021” and Senator Hanger’s defense of chemical conversion, “I believe my friends in the environmental community will, once they understand …

WE Are So Close To The End–one way or another! SB 1164, the bill that will classify chemical conversion as a manufacturing process will be heard on Wednesday afternoon (2/17) by the House Agriculture, Chesapeake, and Natural Resources Committee. This bill will exempt polluting facilities from permits mandated for similar facilities under Virginia law. Waste …

The General Assembly has been extended and there are a few bills we’re hoping to see over the finish line. Expanded Polystyrene Food and Beverage Containers: HB 1902 which bans Single Use Expanded Polystyrene (EPS), usually called Styrofoam, food and beverage containers has made it through the House. The bill will probably be heard early …

Crossover, which is a like a legislative version of the “Red Rover, Red Rover” game has happened at the General Assembly and all bills have transferred between the House and Senate. SB 1164 the bill that will classify chemical conversion as a manufacturing process instead of a Solid Waste facility /process will be heard by …

This short legislative session has been a real test on our one last good nerve. In reference to SB 1164, the bill that would classify chemical conversion (chemical recycling) as a manufacturing process, the bill co-patron had this pithy quote aimed at environmentalists who have been working overtime presenting testimony and data for why it …

The collective advocacy efforts of groups across Virginia has stalled SB 1164, the bill to classify chemical conversion (chemical recycling aka burning plastic to create more plastic to burn) as a manufacturing process. Tomorrow, this bill will be heard by the Senate Agriculture, Conservation, and Natural Resources Committee . This action alert is going to …

For those of you who have been following our blog, we write a lot about how the fossil fuel industry attempts to greenwash their products to trap communities into a future surrounded by fossil fuels. This push is coming to Virginia in the form of chemical conversion facilities, referred to by the fossil fuel industry …