This week, the following environmental news articles sparked our interest. From a significant national plastic policy move to new findings on climate risks, here is what we’re reading on recycling, pollution, and climate issues:

National Recycling Coalition Policy on Chemical Recycling – Waste Advantage, May 21, 2025
In a strong and clearly worded statement, the National Recycling Coalition has officially come out against so-called “chemical recycling,” calling it a false solution that fails to reduce plastic production and pollution. Chemical recycling, also known as pyrolysis, “advanced recycling,” or “plastics to fuel”, is a process that takes waste plastics, heats them and adds toxic chemicals, and then melts them down into a substance that can be used as a fuel stock. While a number of chemical recycling plants have been built at great expense across the United States, none has ever reported success in terms of scaled or efficient outputs. Additionally, the plastics are never in fact recycled or even downcycled into future plastic products. In this newly articulated policy stance, the National Recycling Coalition emphasized that most chemical recycling technologies are energy-intensive, often result in toxic emissions, and divert attention from real waste reduction efforts.

‘All the cocoa trees will be destroyed’ – The Ecologist, May 12, 2025
The Ivory Coast’s cocoa farmers warn that, as environmental stressors like drought, disease, and soil degradation reduce farmland productivity, the impacts threaten not just the country’s cocoa supply but also entire ecosystems. Inequitable economic relations and agricultural policies also inhibit producers’ ability to invest in and care for their land properly. This leads to more intensive and damaging farming practices that are swiftly becoming unsustainable. 

Plastic pollution may be accelerating global warming by disrupting Earth’s carbon cycles – Environmental Health News, May 16, 2025
A new study released by the Plastics & Climate Project concludes that microplastics are interfering with carbon sequestration in oceans and soils, potentially exacerbating climate change. The research shows how plastic pollution isn’t just a waste issue, but also a climate threat that could undermine key planetary systems that regulate temperature.

Finally, we would like to recognize Rep. Gerry Connolly, who passed away this week after a months-long battle with cancer. Connolly represented northern Virginia’s 11th Congressional District, which encompasses most of Fairfax County. In his long political career, he was a staunch supporter of the environment and the residents of Virginia on the national level, as well as being a good human being. 

Jen Cole, Executive Director of Clean Fairfax, reflects, “ In my capacity as new Director of Clean Fairfax in 2009, I had the opportunity to meet the Congressman, who once he found out I was from Rhode Island, talked all about the great restaurants and bakeries in Providence and Boston and of course The Red Sox. I was so homesick at the time, having made no friends here, and talking to him about home was a balm on my heart that I have carried with me for the last 16 years.

I would see him at events over the years and he always remembered that I was a Sox fan. He was such a good man, and a dedicated public servant and of course, a Red Sox fan. I will miss him and his big laugh. Goodspeed, Congressman; you were loved.”

We’re bringing back the Clean Fairfax Environmental News Roundup, sharing a few stories each week that we find notable. 

To kick it off, here are several recent stories that caught our attention:

Farmers market season takes root across Fairfax County, starting this week – FFX Now, Apr. 15, 2025
We’re thrilled that the Fairfax County Park Authority’s ten farmers markets are going plastic bag-free this season! Head out to your nearest farmers market (a full directory can be found on our website) and remember your reusable bags.

Maryland Gov. Moore signs packaging EPR into law – Packaging Dive, May 13, 2025
Maryland joins just five other states by passing a new Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) law that holds companies responsible for the disposal, recycling, and end-of-life management of their products. This new Maryland law covers packaging, paper, and beverage containers. Once fully in force, it will require that stores and manufacturers deal with transportation, recycling, composting, and contamination management.

How REI reached a key zero-waste milestone before Target and Walmart – Trellis, May 8, 2025
The popular outdoor clothing and equipment coop has achieved 90% diversion of its waste from landfills and incinerators in 2024, instead recycling or composting the material. It’s the first major retailer to reach this target, and the organization continues to strive for zero waste (meaning 100% of waste is diverted). They are also working on reducing single-use packaging by requiring suppliers to find alternatives or eliminate it at the source. Great job, REI!

Starch-based bioplastic may be as toxic as petroleum-based plastic, study finds – The Guardian, May 13, 2025
This article discusses a new peer-reviewed study in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry which found that biodegradable starch-based plastics, known as bioplastics, can cause serious health problems for wildlife and humans as they break down in the environment. While bioplastics have been heralded by the fossil fuel industry as safer and more environmentally friendly alternatives to petroleum-based plastics, this study points to the fact that the source of a plastic’s base polymer may not make a difference when it comes to the product’s toxicity.

These “Old Ladies” Dive Into Massachusetts Ponds, Come Up Bearing Pounds of Garbage – Nice News, Mar 1, 2025
A growing group of women over the age of 64 who call themselves Old Ladies Against Underwater Garbage, or OLAUG, has been attacking the problem of sunken trash in ponds across Cape Cod, Massachusetts. Read all about their efforts and achievements here!

Living Thoughtfully With Less Plastic at Trace

Located in bustling downtown Vienna, Trace – The Zero Waste Store invites you in to investigate their bulk food and refill store. The shop has a sleek boutique-meets-natural-food-co-op ambience that both calms and stimulates. Without the clutter of packaging and plastic, products are displayed artfully yet efficiently. Whether you are a first-time browser or a regular refiller of bottles and jars, friendly staff is there to assist you when desired. Remember to BYOB (Bring Your Own Bag) and containers! 

Trace founder, Mala Persaud, is passionate about being part of the plastic pollution solution. After a trip to Belize in 2016 where she saw incredible quantities of plastic bottles, bags, wrappers, and caps strewn across the beautiful landscape, Mala was inspired not only to make a change in her own life, but also to help others. Her store is the embodiment of that intention: to provide healthy, clean products free of plastic ingredients and packaging. Mala is a stellar example of talking the talk AND walking the walk.

About the Store

At Trace, you will find everyday items for your kitchen, bath, and laundry room, as well as fun and cheeky gifts for special people in your life. The bulk food section offers nuts, seeds, grains, and other dry goods with a handy weighing and labeling station. For bath and beauty products, you have many choices for refill items, plus beautiful glass pump bottles for purchase if you forget your own container – as well as a selection of donated containers available for free! The store also carries a number of household cleaning products such as dishwasher detergent, laundry detergent, and surface cleaners. There are refillable personal care products from razors to dental floss.

Many of the items for sale at Trace may seem like novelties to folks who are at the beginning of their journey to reduce plastic waste. Once you try them out, however, you may find that you highly prefer the low-waste lifestyle, and realize that the upfront cost of purchasing a sturdy reusable item more than makes up for the cost and hassle of constantly buying things that you use once and throw away. Additionally, there are numerous products that make excellent gifts: organic cotton tea towels, vegetable-based candles, sustainably sourced chocolates, and artisan olive oils & vinegars to name just a few!

First-time visitors need not feel nervous trying to navigate the store. Friendly staff members are there to walk you through the refill process. They will demonstrate how to use the scale to get a tare weight of your container, fill up, and reweigh to record the product amount. The staff can also explain any unfamiliar products. At checkout, you will be refreshed by a smooth and paperless transaction!

Greater Goals

As part of the mission of Trace, Mala Persaud is dedicated to getting the word out about the importance of reducing plastic waste. She regularly speaks and writes about her work to share her message with the community. Whether she is tabling at community expos, acting as an “Ask Me Anything” recycling expert, or selling sustainable products, she is spreading the word on how people can make changes in their lives that will make a difference. Her efforts were recognized recently with a Fairfax County Environmental Excellence Award in the Organization and Business Category! Congratulations, Mala.

Clean Fairfax is excited to welcome Trace back as a sustainable vendor at our Earth Daze event on April 28, 2024 at Aslin Beer Company in Herndon, VA. Bring your container and reusable bag for all of your refillables!

Welcome to the 2022 Virginia General Assembly Periodic Updates!

The legislative outlook may be a little different this year, but there are reasons to be optimistic. Waste reduction legislation has been gaining traction around the country and we have a few bills to follow here in Virginia!  

But,  this email is going to get you primed for the next 60 days, and remind you about how you can get ahold of your legislator, how you can tweet at them, as needed, remind you about our legislative tracker that is usually reserved for bills having to do with litter and recycling, but honestly we are always interested in the big picture of Virginia’s environment, and believe that everything is connected–Economy, Environment, Equity, and Environmental Health! 

Of Note: you may have a new Senator or Delegate since the election to make sure you know who your elected official is by checking here.

Our friends at Virginia Grassroots have a great list of all the legislators’ twitter handles and email addresses so that you can ping them as needed. Don’t forget to thank them when they vote for or champion GOOD legislation!  Save this link, although we will try to remember to put it in all our missives. 

Speaking of good legislation–there are 3 EPR (Extended Producer Responsibility) bills, a bottle bill, some good energy efficiency enabling legislation, some quality wildlife corridor legislation and funding opportunities and more but we’ll start laying those out in future emails once they are all assigned to committees, and we know more about them, because honestly, it is like drinking from a firehose. 

Let’s go right to a bill being heard TOMORROW!

We are a little curious/concerned about this bill (SB 250) because we are a county with an aging “Waste To Energy” facility, “Ash generated by incinerators and energy recovery facilities (also known as INCINERATORS THAT BURN YOUR TRASH SO IT SEEMS LIKE IT JUST DISAPPEARS INSTEAD OF TURNING IT INTO TOXIC ASH AND GAS)  that are subject to this section shall be exempted from the annual fees assessed under this section.”

This bill also increases the fee for a composting facility from $1,200 to $5,500. Do we really want to make it somehow cheaper to burn trash and organics, and more expensive for localities to compost, because it’s already basically commercially impossible due to the lack of affordable land for a facility in Northern VA, as well as ENDLESS HOA restrictions about simple backyard composters. We are in the game of reducing barriers and increasing access to solid waste disposal. This bill will be heard in The Senate Agriculture Committee (committee members linked here–save for future reference–this is a busy committee for enviro stuff!)  tomorrow (1/18/22) so please do contact Senator Surovell to ask him about it! 

As we add more bills into our “support” and “not support” list,  plus some more that we are watching, they will be up on our LitterFreeVA.org page and bills will be added and updated on a once they are assigned to committee.  We’re a little short staffed this year so if you want real time information on all the bills at any moment, you’ll want to go right to the source–The General Assembly Website. 

Finally there is the provocative appointment of former and brief EPA administrator, Andrew Wheeler, Coal and Plastic schill for Former President Trump as the Commonwealth’s Secretary of Natural and HIstoric Resources. We got to encounter Mr Wheeler here in Fairfax when he turned up at the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors public hearing on the $.05 bag fee and tried to talk up his “good work” while at EPA (video.)  Needless to say, we and some of our friends on the Board of Supervisors were not impressed.  Mr Wheeler’s resume tells us all we need to know about how he would protect our natural and historic resources but we’d like to remind you that cabinet appointments at that level still need to be voted on by the legislature, so please call your Delegate and your Senator and let them know that Virginia’s billion dollar+ industries of fishing, hiking, farming,  agritourism and more,  as well as our historic tourism are worth more to us than Mr Wheeler’s relationships with big polluters.  

Oh, and Virginia trying to get out of the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative? That  is a whole other email and blog post,  but luckily that looks like it will take a court order so we have some time with that one. Suffice it to say though–we do not want to leave RGGI!

But, here’s the thing– We need to be playing offense at the same time we’re playing defense. There’s a thing in hockey where you pull your goalie out and have them play offense in order to have more skaters on the ice but that leaves your goal untended. We can’t be distracted by the big things like Andrew Wheeler and RGGI,  and some of the other egregious threats to the environment, and not pay attention to the things happening quietly, right under our noses.

Eyes on the prize, friends, and the prize is Virginia. It is Virginia’s environment, business climate, school system, and its recent movement toward human and civil rights, increasing the minimum wage so people can afford to work and live and contribute to the Commonwealth,  and all the work that we all have done in the last several years to move Virginia forward in so many areas, not just environmental–because it is all connected! 

And finally, we’ll leave you with this thought, on this important day of commitment to Civil Rights, and Public Service, and beg not for something as banal as donations or shares or clicks, but that you pay attention this year and really stay on your elected officials at the local level, state level and national level because who knows what our communities, our state, our country, our climate, our world– will look like in the next 5 years if we don’t:

“Let not any one pacify his conscience by the delusion that he can do no harm if he takes no part, and forms no opinion. Bad men need nothing more to compass their ends, than that good men should look on and do nothing. He is not a good man who, without a protest, allows wrong to be committed in his name, and with the means which he helps to supply, because he will not trouble himself to use his mind on the subject.” John Stuart Mill, 1867

Stay healthy, sustainable, and loud.  

Clean Fairfax strives to support clean water in Fairfax County through various programs such as our Clean Streams Initiative and our Farmers Market sustainability initiative. People often ask us, “what can we do to help?” This holiday season, we’re recommending two ways in which you can give back to the community and support clean water too!

1. Sign this petition, which calls for residents to let the EPA know that we support the Clean Water Act in all its glory! This petition is coordinated by the Choose Clean Water Coalition, a group of conservation non-profits that have banded together to make our voices heard!
2. Check out Litter Free Virginia, which is a coalition of organizations and people that are interested in litter legislation in that state of Virginia. Click on this blog post to learn more!

You’ll see plenty of buying guides in the next month. We encourage you to shop thoughtfully, considering where things come from and how they get to you. We do not get any benefit from you shopping from this list. These are simply ideas we have and products we use and like. If you’re a local business with sustainable gifts, email us and we might add you to this list!

Above all, we hope your holidays (however you define them) are full of all the things you value—friends, family, food, and fun.

The Gift of Time
One of the best gifts you can give—yourself. If you have an elderly parent, relative, neighbor or friend, they don’t want more STUFF. They would love it if you came over more often to play a board game or to chat over tea. Or perhaps to help clean out their garage, to rake and compost their leaves, or to plant their garden for them in the springtime. Or maybe there’s a young family on the block with kids who would love to learn to bake, or make a bird house or grow tomatoes. When you give the gift of yourself, it is two gifts—one for them, and one for you!

Secondhand Books
Used books have a kind of mystique to them that people love! If it’s secondhand, it’s intriguing to wonder where the book has traveled, who originally bought it and with what purpose. If it’s from your own collection, add a note about what it means to you. We especially encourage circular economies like this — buy from a local used bookstore, or if this isn’t possible, Amazon sells used versions of all books. We should also note that most used bookstores have gift cards as well!

Soap Nuts & Dryer Balls
Interesting names…. great products! Soap nuts are natural and reusable laundry soap. They really do work. Dryer balls, made from 100% wool, replace dryer sheets (which are coated with chemicals and are typically made from plastic microfibers.) A few drops of essential oil (all-natural, high quality) will allow the dryer balls to act as a fabric refresher too, if that’s important to you!

Support Local Farms
Want to support local food production? Whitehall Farms, in Clifton, sells CSA shares and local products at its on-site market. We also highly suggest you visit!

Reusable Produce Bags
Reusable produce bags are a good way to decrease plastic bag usage from your weekly shopping trips. As you well know, we aren’t big fans of plastic.

The Gift of Good Health
Fairfax County Rec Centers have many locations near you and they would love for you to give a gift certificate for a membership or classes.

Meal Subscriptions
Although we’re highly skeptical of meal subscriptions, Sunbasket rises above the rest. Sunbasket has many food options, their meals are certified organic and they pack all items in 100% sustainable packaging that is recyclable and/or compostable. If you have a friend or a sibling who just works/commutes TOO MUCH and you worry that they aren’t eating well, consider a Sunbasket membership.

Mighty Nest
For $12 a month, you can get a new sustainable, environmentally conscientious product to try. Items in the past have included beeswax wrap to replace plastic wrap, silicone toppers (again to replace plastic wrap), reusable sandwich bags, all-natural laundry soap, stainless steel bento boxes, refillable dental floss in a glass tube and more. All items come with minimal paper packaging and no plastic. They also have a good selection of healthy home products to help get you to zero waste.

Seabags
Seabags is a company out of Maine that makes bags and totes that are made from old sailboat sails. They have a shop in Annapolis if you want to go see them in person. The bucket bags are a favorite and are perfect project bags for knitting, or lunch, or shower caddy!

Adapted from Sustainable DC’s wonderful newsletter

With Thanksgiving just around the corner, meal planning and preparation is in full swing. You’ve spent the entire year cutting down on plastic, eating less meat, and conserving water — and now Thanksgiving presents a great opportunity to put another feather in your sustainability cap. According to the Natural Resources Defense Council, Americans discarded an equivalent of over 6 million turkeys last year. That figure doesn’t include all the stuffing and mashed potatoes that might end up going bad in the back of your refrigerator days after the feast.

While Thanksgiving is a time to indulge (or to run a local turkey trot), it’s also important to be thoughtful about the amount of food needed for the meal and leftovers. Being mindful of how much food you’re making doesn’t have to cut into your holiday traditions. With a little advance planning and a few Turkey Day tactics under your apron, here’s how you can have your turkey and eat it too, all while still avoiding food waste.

Determine how much of each ingredient you really need

Before heading to the grocery store, make a list of the items you need and do your best to stick to it. Along with cutting down on food waste, you’ll also save money. A typical four-person family in the U.S. wastes $1,500 each year on food they end up throwing away.  A nifty new tool from nonprofit Save the Food, called the “Guest-imator,” can help you save time and money on groceries.

No turkey, no problem!

We know it might be a tradition, but if not all of your guests are into turkey this year, that’s ok. You might choose to bypass the turkey and still have a main dish everyone will eat! Vegetarian lasagna and sustainably-sourced fish are excellent alternatives.

The dish no one eats…let’s skip it

Let’s be honest with ourselves and take an inventory of what family members actually want to eat, not what has become tradition. If you tend to make a dish solely because it’s an annual tradition, consider making a smaller portion or cutting it out entirely this year.

Send guests home with (reusable) care packages

No matter how carefully you plan your feast, avoiding the faux-pas of serving too little food means you’re going to have at least a few leftovers. Don’t let them sit in the fridge too long. Make sure you’ve got a game plan and consider sending leftovers home in reusable containers with your guests.

Compost!

Remember to compost meatless leftovers (or leftovers with meat if you have access to industrial composting facilities… not exactly FFX’s strength).

Clean Fairfax is proud to introduce Litter Free Virginia, an initiative to fight for litter prevention legislation across the state of Virginia! At its core, Litter Free Virginia is a coalition of people and organizations (non-profits, businesses and more) that are frustrated with litter and waste management issues, and want to develop and support policies that help solve these problems. Clean Fairfax has long dreamed of coordinating a coalition that attacks litter at its source, and that day has finally come!

In its inaugural year, #LitterFreeVA will focus on legislation that decreases the use of single-use bags, especially plastic bags. This will likely take the form of a local-option bag fee of $0.05. In future years, this initiative will focus on other aspects of the litter issue. Don’t worry — we haven’t forgotten about bottles, cigarette butts, fast food containers, etc. But for 2019, it’s single-use bags.

While we’re hard at work developing good policy, you have a BIG part to play in #LitterFreeVA. Here are ways that you can contribute (full details found here):

• Document litter in your community – Do you regularly snag selfies? Do you take your avocado toast on a photoshoot before you dig in? If so, this may be the perfect task for you. We’ve spoken to legislators, and they need photographic proof of the litter issues we’re having. Consequently, a main focus this year is to document Virginia’s litter problems using the hashtag #LitterFreeVA. This is super easy. If you walk upon a littered area, take a photo, upload it to Twitter or Instagram, and tag us using #LitterFreeVA. We then collect these photos using a hashtag aggregator! Bonus points if you add location (including zip code if possible) as well as a bit of colorful (but positive) commentary. Want to see the photos we’ve collected thus far? Go to our front page and scroll down!
• Contact your representatives – Your local state senators and representatives have a lot to do. They can’t keep track of every issue, so it’s on you to let them know that this is an issue you care about! Click here to find your local rep’s contact information. Please note that representatives will only listen to their own constituents. Do not waste time contacting a rep that’s not your own. If you really want to put pressure on a representative outside your locality, convince citizens within that locality to contact their rep! For talking points and sample emails, please click here.

The website should help guide you every step of the way, but please contact us if you have any questions or if you are looking to become more involved in this initiative! A really easy way to keep up with what we’re doing is to sign up for email alerts. We promise never to spam you.

It can be difficult to see the good in this rough and tumble world of conservation. There are so many things that need improving, so many people that need help. But sometimes we need to stop and smell the roses. What roses, you say? Today’s rose is Fairfax County Public Works and Environmental Services, and especially Fairfax County Stormwater!

This fall, Fairfax County is being awarded a “Gold Level in Program Management” and “Silver Level in Innovation” by the Water Environment Federation. Managing stormwater is incredibly difficult for any municipality, and it is a thankless job. The only time anyone thinks about stormwater is when it’s in their yards or streets. We have been working with Stormwater for the past two years on outreach and education efforts and thoroughly enjoy our partnership. There’s always improving to do, but it’s important to recognize that Fairfax County has put together a dedicated and talented team to tackle these issues. Congratulations to the stormwater team and all the partners that help implement the county’s MS4 program!

Recycling can be… Complicated. Frustrating. Expletive inducing? Every city and county has a different set of recycling guidelines depending on infrastructure, haulers and local policy. This can create real confusion for citizens who are just trying to do good. In Fairfax County, we have a dozen or so haulers, all with their own requirements. That’s a lot of conflicting messages. We love Fairfax County Environment Facebook page’s effort to share what is and isn’t recyclable, but many residents aren’t serviced by the county. Our own website on recycling is, well, admittedly a bit lacking because of the complex nature of the issue. We’re working on it.

In our opinion, the best solution to this issue is probably a search plug-in that tells you if an item is recyclable after you enter the name of the item as well as which disposal company you use. This will take intensive ground-truthing and coordination, so please be patient while we develop that.

Until then, courtesy of Sally Carter (who has gone great lengths to figure this out), enjoy this awesome list of FFX County Recycling Guidelines! Note that it was assembled with guidance from the following sources:

• The county’s Public Works and Environmental Services’ Index of Residential Materials and the “The Fairfax Recycler” e-newsletter
• American Disposal Services’ Acceptable Recycling Materials and the information they share during tours of their facility in Manassas.

Also, a shout out to MOM’s and Whole Foods, both of which have wonderful recycling programs of their own.