As Virginia Beach residents, the health of our waterways, beaches, and fisheries is critical to our local economy and our way of life. We have all seen plastic bags in the water and on the beach!
Plastic bags are one of the most common forms of plastic pollution found in our beach clean ups and pose a significant threat to waterways, wildlife, and seafood. Plastic bags not sent to landfills are often put in recycling bins, where they clog recycling machines and cost recyclers and taxpayers money to remove.
Virginia Beach can reduce plastic bag pollution by passing an ordinance placing a five cent fee on single use plastic bags at grocery, drug, and convenience stores. Fees have been used successfully to reduce plastic bag litter in many other cities and states. The State of Virginia passed a law in 2020 granting municipalities the authority to enact such ordinances.
Revenue from this fee can be used to fund environmental education and clean ups, as well as supplying free reusable bags to Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and Women, Infants, and Children Program (WIC) customers.
Help us enact a plastic bag fee in Virginia Beach so we can keep our beautiful natural areas clean of plastic bag litter, reduce taxpayer dollars spent on clean ups and recycling, and keep plastic bags from poisoning wildlife and our seafood.
Take a few minutes and send a message to your local elected officials, thank you!