Cheers to Clean Water Results & What's Next?🌊🍻
Cheers to Clean Water 2024 was an amazing day of community and action for a Trash Free Maryland!
Many thanks to our partners, including nine local businesses: Union Craft Brewing, Checkerspot Brewing Company, Pickett Brewing Company, Wico Street Beer Co, M8 Beer Co, Guilford Hall Brewery, Peabody Heights Brewery, Charm City Meadworks, THB Bagelry and Deli, and Baltimore Community ToolBank, Blue Water Baltimore, and Baltimore DPW. And a special thank you to all of our new and returning volunteers who joined us! Your help makes a difference.
At Trash Free Maryland, we connect clean-ups to policies to create lasting change. On Saturday, volunteers used our Real Time Recall method to count policy priority items: plastic bags and bottles.
The results were telling. Plastic bag counts remained relatively low in our South and East Baltimore sites, consistent with the continuing implementation of Baltimore City's and Baltimore County’s plastic bag bans (with Baltimore County’s ban taking effect after last year’s Cheers!). Plastic bag counts were up at one site, showing us that there is more we can do to see greater results.
Maryland is currently considering a new policy with the potential to reduce plastic containers and other common sources of litter in our communities and waterways. Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) for Packaging is a policy approach that makes packaging producers responsible for the entire life cycle of their products, creating incentives to reduce the amount of packaging waste and improve design for recycling. On-going consideration of a beverage deposit return system which has yet to be enacted would also reduce littered plastic bottles. We are closely following and supporting the development of policies that lead to lasting reductions in trash and litter.
It was wonderful to meet so many of you at this year’s cleanup and to hear your stories about why you care about litter. I think we were all amazed at how much we were able to accomplish. I look forward to continuing to work together toward lasting change. Your support makes an impact. Thank you for joining us!
With gratitude,
Kelly & the Trash Free Maryland Team
