100 business owners, other leaders on board with a proposed plastic bag ban for Pittsburgh

PennPIRG supports a plan to eliminate 200 million plastic bags a year from Pittsburgh.

On Sept. 29, our sister organization, PennEnvironment, delivered a letter on behalf of over 100 businesses, organizations and community leaders to sign a letter urging local leaders to ban single-use plastic bags. The letter underscores the threat that plastic bags pose to the environment and public health -– including the fact that they break down into micro-plastics, which contain cancer-causing chemicals. These micro-plastics have already been found in multiple rivers in Pennsylvania.

Our hope is that enough of Pennsylvania’s largest cities adopt local plastic bag bans, then state legislators will be more likely to adopt a statewide ban. The support of Pittsburgh business owners and other community leaders is one step toward convincing the state’s second largest city to ban the bag.

Read more.

Learn more about our Beyond Plastic Campaign.