Baltimore County holds hearing on “bring your own bag” bill

On Tuesday night, the Baltimore County Council held a hearing on a “bring your own bag bill” to reduce plastic litter and waste.

The bi-partisan bill, which is backed by Maryland PIRG, bans single-use plastic bags and adds a 10 cent fee on paper bags, a strategy proven effective to promote the use of reusable bags and reduce litter and waste.

Plastic bag disposal is a lose, lose, lose.

They jam up recycling machinery, and every plastic bag we throw away ends up burned in our toxic incinerator and polluting our air or buried in a leaky landfill polluting our water. If they get loose, they end up littering our neighborhoods, roads, waterways and the Chesapeake Bay.

The Baltimore County Council will vote Monday on the bring your own bag bill. We hope they will join Baltimore City and ban single use plastic bags.