Results of the Baltimore City Plastic Bag Ban
Legislation encouraging shoppers to bring their own reusable bags is popping up across the State! With new laws going into effect in Salisbury (July 1st) and to come in College Park (September 1st), it begs the question, are bag bans working?
Well, our good friend Mr. Trash Wheel might just have the answer!
The trash wheels in and around Baltimore Harbor have been eating up plastic bags and, during the annual WaterFront Partnership’s Baltimore Dumpster Dive, bags were counted by hundreds of volunteers from Volunteering Untapped.
The Results?
*Data of plastic bag counts from the Waterfront Partnership of Baltimore’s Annual Dumpster Dive Event 2018 to 2023* (Due to Covid-19 their was no Dumpster Dive in 2020 or 2021 and therefore no data for those years)
The Baltimore City bag ban went into effect in 2022. After the ban, there was a three fold decrease in the number of plastic bags captured by Mr. Trash Wheel from 2019 to 2022 and a gradual decreasing trend from 2018 to the present. This year’s total of 450 plastic bags is the lowest since 2018. This is great news in light of the momentum we see across the State for legislation to encourage reusable bags.
Three counties (Baltimore, Prince George’s and Anne Arundel) passed legislation just this year to encourage reusable bags. They join Montgomery County and Howard County, creating a strong commitment in central Maryland. (Prince George’s County and Anne Arundel County passed laws just last month!)
This makes 5 counties, 8 cities (Baltimore, Frederick, Salisbury, Greenbelt, College Park, Takoma Park, Laurel and Westminster) and 2 towns (Chestertown and Easton) encouraging reusable bags. Congrats to all of the organizations working to make this happen.
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