Dear California Greenyes Members,
The
GrassRoots Recycling Network (GRRN) and The Earth Resource Foundation (ERF)
request that you email Governor Schwarzenegger and ask him to VETO AB 2449. AB
2449 is a Plastic Bag Recycling Bill that is the antithesis of Zero
Waste!
Specifically AB 2449 requires very large grocery stores (defined
by square footage) to collect and recycle plastic shopping bags. At the end
of the legislative session, a Faustian bargain was made: the bill now prohibits
cities and counties from imposing any levy, fee or restriction on plastic
bags! What started as a recycling bill has become a Trojan horse
that will tie the hands of local government from pursuing zero waste, resource
conservation, and waste prevention.
In other words, in return for tepid
requirements for downstream management of waste, this bill will strip local
government of the ability to eliminate waste at the source and to hold producers
responsible for their product.
It's unusual to ask you to take action twice
in one day, but we need help TODAY because:
1. It's important! This
bill will be a setback for Zero Waste. We are being tossed the bone of
"recycling collection" in return for losing our legal right to pursue
upstream solutions and EPR.
2. It's easy! All you have to do is
click http://www.govmail.ca.gov to send a message
to the governor.
3. It's urgent! The governor may sign the
bill any day now. We're up against environmental organizations and
recycling organizations who support the bill as "a step in the right direction"
and don't expect local governments to miss the rights this bill takes
away.
For more information or learn how to fax a letter or call the
governor instead please visit www.earthresource.org
Please CC: letters and
emails to Stephani...@earthresource.org
Sincerely,
Linda Christopher, Executive Director, GrassRoots Recycling
Network
Stephanie Barger, Executive Director, Earth Resource
Foundation
Partial List of Entities Opposing AB 2449:
City and County
of San Francisco
City of Oakland
City of Palo Alto
City of Santa Monica
Marin County
San Luis Obispo
County
Northern California Recycling Association