Did you know that those “free” plastic bags are embedded in your grocery checkout bill? And that each plastic bag you use costs you an estimated $.17 in taxes? Whether you reuse, trash or recycle those plastic bags, you’re still paying an estimated $85 dollars each year for the Philly Water Department to clean plastic bags out of our waterways.

Plus, those plastic bags (like diamonds) are never ever (like ever) going away. Even in the landfill, they’ll keep your takeout and old flowers perfectly preserved. And often times, they end up in the oceans, killing wildlife and littering our lands.

The good news? The solution is a LOT easier than we think.

Philadelphia can pass legislation to reduce the number of bags we use each day and encourage our city to switch to reusable options. Reusable canvas and other bags can save hundreds of plastic bags from waterways and the landfill. (Although we’ve been keeping quiet about our plastic bag reduction initiative*, we can assure you we’re working hard behind the scenes.)

Factory Direct Promos has created a plastic bag ban map to showcase where the bans and fees have been passed. As you can see, Philly has a big fat RED dot to indicate our effort failed in 2009. Let’s get on the way to turning that dot blue!

Make sure to sign our Change.org Petition to Reduce Plastic Bags in Philly. And please share it with friends, family, colleagues, and your cute neighbor. We’re trying to get to 50,000 signatures. Anyone who lives, shops in, or cares about Philly (no matter how far) can sign this petition and help the cause!

If you are a part of a city organization of any type or just want to get involved with the plastic bag reduction efforts, please send an email to greenphillyblog@gmail.com. We’ll keep you in the loop and get you involved in our efforts.

*Sidenote to those who have been following our campaign: We do realize that we started our campaign as a plastic bag ban, but our ultimate goal has always been to get legislation passed to reduce plastic bags in Philly. Overall, a plastic bag fee is more likely than a ban for Philadelphia at this point.

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Julie Hancher is Editor-in-Chief of Green Philly, sharing her expertise of all things sustainable in the city of brotherly love. She enjoys long walks in the park with local beer and greening her travels, cooking & cat, Sir Floofus Drake. View all posts by Julie Hancher