Thursday, June 14th: Ban the Bag Humboldt!
The Humboldt Waste Management Authority (HWMA) Board will be discussing a single-use plastic bag ban ordinance at the June meeting. As you know, Humboldt Baykeeper and Surfrider Humboldt have been advocating for a countywide plastic bag ban for nearly two years and we need your help!
Join us at the meeting to provide public comments about why plastic bag pollution is a problem in our community. The meeting starts at 6:30 p.m. at the Eureka City Council Chambers at 531 K Street. The plastic bag ordinance is agenda item 7.
Some plastic bag talking points are below but we encourage you to share your unique perspective about why you think single-use plastic bags are bad for our community.
- Plastic bags are usually used for less than 11 minutes, yet the plastic persists for hundreds of years in the environment.
- Plastic bags are not necessary and we use reusable bags.
- In California, 14 billion plastic bags are used every year, but only 3% are recycled.
- Over 40 cities in California have passed bag bans with Ukiah, Fort Bragg and Mendocino County all passing bans in the last 2 months.
- We want to maintain a forward thinking, environmentally progressive community in Humboldt County.
Please wear your Ban the Bag Humboldt T-shirt or bring your reusable bag that was made out of repurposed t-shirts with the Ban the Bag Humboldt logo!
If you do not have time to attend the meeting, please take 1 minute to call your HWMA representative and let them know you strongly support the bag ban and want to see this ordinance written and passed. If Mendocino can do it, so can we!
Mark Lovelace, County of Humboldt Vice Chair
707-476-2393
mlovelace@co.humboldt.ca.us
Shane Brinton, City of Arcata
707-845-9372
sbrinton@cityofarcata.org
Sherman Shapiro, City of Blue Lake
707-668-5655
Lance Madsen, City of Eureka
707-441-4171
lmadsen@ci.eureka.ca.gov
John Maxwell, City of Ferndale, Chair
707-786-4224
Jack Thompson, City of Rio Dell
707-764-3532
jthompson@riodellcity.com
For more information and plastic bag facts, check out our blog at http://surfriderhumboldt.wordpress.com/rap/plastic-facts/