Another pandemic year in the books! Congratulations to our amazing Chapters and volunteers, who navigated another tough pandemic year of changing public health restrictions. Despite these challenges, the nine Chapters and seven Student Clubs in the Mid-Atlantic region, from New York to Virginia, still got a lot done! We tallied 8 official victories in 2021, still a bit lower than our pre-pandemic levels, but great work once again.
Your efforts led to: A much better bag bill passing in DE, Intentional balloon release bans passing in MD, DE, and VA; A foam ban bill passing in VA; And a strong zero waste bill passing in DC! Check out the whole list here.
We had a large delegation take part in our first virtual DC Hill Day, completing over 40 zoom meetings with the staff of our Mid-Atlantic elected officials. Thank you to our amazing Hill Day captains! We conveyed our grassroots messages on offshore oil drilling, plastics, water quality, and climate change.
Chapters also did a lot of great program work! The ELI and CLI Chapters both installed fantastic Ocean Friendly Gardens. The NYC Chapter continued its successful Surfing for the Environment youth program. And the DE Chapter got a new shower built at a popular surf break. That is just a sample of cool programs happening in the region.
Our Mid-Atlantic chapters and clubs also completed over 60 beach clean ups again this year, despite a ban on clean ups in effect for part of the year (You can still add old data if you forgot to put it into the system!)
In 2022, we will be pushing for, among other bills and campaigns: The “Skip the Stuff” bill in NYC; Establishing a National Marine Sanctuary in the Hudson Canyon; Passing a bottle bill, and a water safety bill in NY; Passing a balloon release ban and recycled content bills in NJ; Passing a foam ban bill in DE; Passing a EPR bills in NY, MD, and VA; Passing a fee on plastic bags in Virginia Beach.
Thanks again to everyone that contributed to these big wins and important work in 2021. Your work does make a difference. See you in 2022!