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environmental laws

Ban Intentional Balloon Releases

General Assembly Action Alert! The 2021 General Assembly is moving fast and we’ve got another action alert! House Bill 2159, which will ban the intentional release of balloons is going to be heard by the House Agriculture and Natural Resources- Natural Resources Subcommittee tomorrow (1/20). The subcommittee hearing starts at 7 am. Pushing through the ban on

by Zach Huntington January 19, 2021
Early Updates for the General Assembly, More Bioplastics, and PFAS in Food Packaging.

  To put on everyone’s radar, we are feeling hopeful we’ll be able to have our Earth Daze event at Aslin in Herndon on the 24th of April to Celebrate Earth and Arbor Days, so Save the Date!     Virginia General Assembly: The Virginia General Assembly started yesterday (1/13) and important bills are moving quickly. Yesterday

by Zach Huntington January 14, 2021
The 2021 Virginia General Assembly is Starting!

  Welcome to the 2021 Virginia General Assembly! To stay up to date about the 2021 General Assembly, be sure to follow our legislation tracker (with 2021 bills being added currently) at Litter Free Virginia, and sign up for our email list while your there! During the General Assembly we send out about 1 email

by Zach Huntington January 12, 2021
Fairfax County Delays the Single Use Plastic Bag Fee and Approves New Housing Developments

Fairfax single use plastic bag fee: Last week, The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors Environmental Committee discussed the potential $0.05 plastic bag fee. The general consensus from the BOS members in attendance was that they were not ready to go forward instituting the fee for single use plastic bags until the Department of Taxation provides

by Zach Huntington December 16, 2020
America Recycles, but its Corporate Sponsors Don’t

“America Recycles Day” was last Saturday. Recycling is a good thing to do, it has a place in a circular, zero waste society, but it is by no means the answer. There’s a reason it comes at the end of the 5 R’s- Refuse, Reduce, Reuse, Rot, Recycle. We cannot recycle our way out of

by Zach Huntington November 19, 2020
Another single use plastic ban moves forward and the necessary “Green” recovery.

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

by Zach Huntington November 10, 2020
Best Practices for Waste Reduction and Fossil Fuel’s Future

Japanese Waste Reduction: As we look for best practices to reduce waste we can find inspiration domestically and abroad. There was a great strategy proposed in Japan that would reduce their plastic waste stream by over 50%. In 2018, Japan generated 8.91 million tons of plastic waste, and almost 5 million tons were from the

by Zach Huntington October 27, 2020
Combating the Plastic Crisis!

The plastic crisis is not all doom and gloom, even with the uncertainties caused by the Covid pandemic, there are positive steps to reduce plastic waste happening right now! Maryland Styrofoam Foodware Ban: As of October, 1st, expanded polystyrene (EPS), commonly referred to as Styrofoam, food and beverage containers are banned in Maryland! For anyone

by Zach Huntington October 15, 2020
Solutions to the Plastic Crisis!

Yesterday, along with constituents of Virginia’s 10th congressional district, we met virtually with a staffer from Congresswoman Wexton’s office to discuss the problems we all face everyday with plastic waste and the importance of the Break Free From Plastic Pollution Act (BFFPPA). Today we thought we’d share some more information about why this bill is

by Zach Huntington October 8, 2020
Action Alert! Meet With Your Elected Official’s Staff

  (Plastic waste in a Fairfax County stream. Photo credit: Clean Fairfax) We have scheduled a meeting with Representative Jennifer Wexton’s (Virginia’s 10th district), environmental staffer. If Jennifer Wexton is your Congressional Representative, this is your chance to let her know you want her to support the Break Free From Plastic Pollution Act! Our meeting

by Zach Huntington October 1, 2020