To: Bill de Blasio, NYC Mayor and Melissa Mark-Viverito, Speaker of the New York City Council
Ask the Mayor and Speaker to Pass Single-Use Bag Legislation by Earth Day!
Dear Mayor de Blasio and Speaker Mark-Viverito,
I urge you to support Intro 209-2014, which will reduce the use of plastic bags in New York City.
The bill requires retail and grocery stores to charge at least 10 cents per single-use carryout bag (paper and plastic) provided to a customer, to encourage New Yorkers to consider refusing a carryout bag when they don't need it or bringing their own reusable bags.
Single-use bags are already costing our city. According to the Department of Sanitation, NYC pays $12.5 million to transport 91,000 tons of carryout bags to landfills each year!
Plastic bags are designed to be used only for a short period of time, but their negative impacts are long-lasting. Even when properly disposed of, plastic bags often blow away onto the street or into waterways, where they become eye-sores, clog storm drains, and endanger wildlife.
New York City should be an environmental leader. Other cities already have similar bag legislation in place and saw single-use bag usage drop by 95 percent.
Please support a greener, cleaner New York City. Please support Intro 209-2014.
Why is this important?
Dear Friends,
We in New York City have an amazing opportunity to substantially reduce the use of the world's most widely used throwaway product--the single-use shopping bag. New Yorkers currently use 10 billion carryout bags a year, which costs the city $12.5 million annually to dispose of. Reducing bag use is the low hanging fruit in transforming the throwaway-economy that is wrecking our habitat.
The great news is that the City Council has introduced a bill to reduce the amount of single-use bags in New York City by mandating that stores charge a small 10-cent fee for each carryout bag provided to a customer. Customers can avoid this fee simply by refusing a carryout bag or bringing their own bag.
Last month, over 70 environmental and community organizations sent letters to the Mayor de Blasio and City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito urging them to pass the bag bill by Earth Day.
Now we need your help: Sign the petition below to let the Mayor and Speaker know that you support this initiative! We've all seen plastic bags caught in trees in our neighborhoods and littering the sidewalks, and it has to stop.
This bill will have a positive impact on our environment and is fair to all New Yorkers. We need your support now to make sure the bill is passed by Earth Day.
Spread the word: #byobag by #earthday!