#BanPhillyBags – July 26th Initiative Recap & Next Steps (Hint: Keep Signing!)

We’re so excited to about yesterday’s success! We had the Plastic Bag Ban petition shared by fellow Philadelphian bloggers all over yesterday. So many people were discussing #BanPhillyBags on Twitter (even though Twitter melted down midday!)  It was picked up by Sandy Bauers on Philly.com and Philly Mag! (We also had a few other mentions, both lovers and haters.)  There were thousands of people that saw our message and picked up an issue that had been dismissed since 2009. But, we Just Started.

Yesterday begun our movement with such a big bang that we wanted to leave the petition open to encourage more signatures before sending to Mayor Michael Nutter, Director of Sustainability Katherine Gajewski, the Office of Sustainability & Philadelphia City Council. We’ll send the letter next week, but the petition will remain open until the plastic bag ban has passed. How can you help? Please keep sharing the petition and your personal stories!  If a 12-year-old in Chicago can do it, we can do it!

The most inspiring part of yesterday was reading the enthusiastic comments on our Change.org petition. Here are some highlights:

• Today it was windy and I saw a plastic bag flying 30 ft in the air over Broad Street…it was embarrassing. I’m tired of the litter! – Jenna McBride
• I live here and the plastic bags are a cause of litter and unnecessary. – Jocelyn Sivalingam
• if we, as in Philadelphians, want to become greener, and then we have to start somewhere. Banning plastic bags is simple and efficient and a small change that everyone can commit to. PLEASE BAN PLASTIC BAGS!! – Giovanna Gonzalez-Lavagnini
• Not only are plastic bags a major pollution problem, they are made from petroleum— a hidden and completely avoidable source of our addiction to oil. – Marcus Ferreira
• plastic bags dont decompose for hundreds of years, they poison the environment, and we dont need them. campaigns for reusable bags will save resources. Plastics are not a sustainable resource, and not using them is one thing that every citizen can do now.                – Richard Metz
• I see plastic bags littering the streets every single day. Its disgusting! – Amanda Taylor

We want to thank each and every person who contributed yesterday by signing the petition, posting on their blogs, Facebook, Twitter, Google and elsewhere. This grassroots support is exactly the fire we wanted to spark, and those conversations are crucial for a change.

However, we acknowledge this was only Day 1 of MANY. Even though we will send the petition to our Philadelphia leaders and government, we aren’t stopping with a few citizens to ask for a plastic bag ban. We’re going to continue to work with local businesses, city leaders and citizens to engage conversations and lead to action.

We will continue to update our progress on Green Philly Blog on a continual basis. Although we can’t share everything ahead of time, know that this is our battle to fight as Philadelphians. During yesterday’s campaign we received many questions about why plastic bags matter and what alternatives are out there. Don’t worry, we’ll continue address these questions right here on Green Philly Blog.

Thanks again for all of your support to get this going. In the meantime, we’ll be greening Philly (and saying NO to Plastic Bags, one at a time.)

Julie & Beth