Don't Trash Maryland
BRING THE BOTTLE BILL TO MARYLAND — Maryland PIRG volunteers cleanup the Bladensburg Waterfront to demonstrate the need for a Maryland Bottle Bill to increase recycling and reduce waste.
The Bottle Bill Works
TO REDUCE LITTER
Our neighborhoods and waterways are littered with bottles and cans and at the same time our recycling rate is less than the national average. Marylanders throw away 3 billion recyclable beverage containers a year! We’re working to pass a 5-cent redeemable deposit on beverage containers to increase recycling and reduce litter.
TO INCREASE RECYCLING
The bottle bill is one of the nation’s most successful recycling programs. The ten states with Bottle Bills have an average container recycling rate of 60% and have seen serious reductions in litter.
FOR MARYLAND
By uniting the public, and putting our experts and advocates in the hearing rooms and offices where key decisions are being made, we can pass a Bottle Bill in Maryland. With your support we can pass this common sense law to increase recycling, reduce waste, and prevent litter.
Issue updates
COVID-19 is putting incredible stress on the U.S. medical system, including the work of hospital biomedical repair technicians, known as biomeds or BMETs. These technicians are essential; hospitals need working equipment to diagnose and treat patients. But in some cases, manufacturers restrict access to what biomeds need.
Maryland State Treasurer Nancy Kopp has added her name to a letter organized by Pennsylvania‘s Joe Torsella calling on ventilator manufacturers to release proprietary repair manuals, service keys, schematics and repair software.
This week, the Montgomery County Council was scheduled to vote on a proposal to suspend their single use bag fee. But after hearing from public health advocates, environmentalists and workers, they have instead pulled their proposal.
The Maryland General Assembly wrapped up the 2020 legislative session last week, weeks earlier than expected. While the public health crisis meant some of our legislative priorities didn’t make it through this year, we still have a lot to celebrate.
We rely on our phones. When they break, we need our phones fixed — fast. Unfortunately, there are numerous barriers to fixing our smartphones. Manufacturers don’t offer certain repairs and can push consumers into purchasing upgrades instead. Our survey of 302 independent repair technicians shows that independent shops offer more options for repair, but are struggling to access parts, service information and repair software which is necessary to fix phones — which manufacturers won’t let these independent shops have.
Solid Waste
Baltimore City Council passes ban on single-use plastic bags
The council voted in favor of a ban on thin, single-use plastic bags handed out by retailers in the city. The legislation promises to reduce the amount of plastic waste littering Baltimore's streets and polluting the Chesapeake Bay.
Solid Waste
The Fix Is In
Our survey found that independent repair shops currently offer many repair options that some manufacturers don’t make available. Apple and others are making it harder for individuals and independent repair shops to fix our devices.
Solid Waste
New federal bill calls for U.S. to move beyond plastic
On Feb. 11, U.S. Sen. Tom Udall and U.S. Rep. Alan Lowenthal introduced legislation that would phase out unnecessary single-use plastics, which commonly end up clogging our landfills and polluting our environment. It also provides funding for recycling and composting infrastructure, and would shift the financial burden of managing waste and recyclables from town and city governments to the manufacturers.
Solid Waste
The state of recycling
In 2019, the state of recycling is disappointing. Our report shows that in order to tackle our plastic waste crisis, we need to reduce our reliance on single-use plastics we don't need, reuse what we can, and make it possible to recycle the rest. The time to take action is now.
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