Pick Up a Free Reusable Bag and a New Habit!

On Friday, January 25, the Clean Water Program will be giving away reusable bags, in support of the countywide reusable bag ordinance that went into effect on January 1. The ordinance prohibits stores that sell packaged food or alcohol from giving away single-use bags at checkout, and requires them to charge a minimum of 10 cents per paper or reusable bag, as an incentive for shoppers to bring their own reusable bags to the store.

Each year, the equivalent of 100,000 kitchen garbage bags worth of litter end up in our local waterways, including an estimated 1 million disposable plastic bags. In Alameda County storm water does not pass through a water treatment plant. This means that litter and other pollutants carried into the storm drain system by wind and water flow directly into creeks and the Bay, where they harm fish, marine mammals and birds.

So get your reusable bag and pledge to bring it to the store, doing your part to keep our creeks and the Bay clean and healthy!