Free Screening - Bag It: Is Your Life Too Plastic? Fundraiser for Anacostia Watershed Society (AWS) w/ Delegate Summers, Council Member Lehman & AWS Communications Manager, Julie Lawson

BAG IT - Is Your Life Too Plastic? 

Conversations in the Corridor (CITC) and The Big Bad Woof will sponsor a fundraiser for the Anacostia Watershed Society's efforts to educate the community on the harmful impact plastic bags have on the environment and our health.

Join us for the free screening of Bag It - Is Your Life Too Plastic? and the post-screening conversation with a dynamic group of community leaders & environmentalists to learn how you can help make a difference in Prince George's County by reducing the problem of single-use, disposable plastic bags - like our neighbors in D.C. and Montgomery County.

Americans use 60,000 plastic bags every FIVE minutes -- single use disposable bags that we mindlessly throw away. But where is away? Where do the bags and other plastics end up, and at what cost to our environment, marine life and human health?

Locally, plastic bags account for nearly half of all the trash in the streams leading to the Anacostia River. Help protect the Anacostia Watershed by considering a tax-deductible donation to the AWS' campaign aimed at reducing the use of plastic bags in our community.
                                              
The Movie:

In this touching, often funny, award-winning film, "everyman" Jeb Berrier embarks on a global tour to unravel the complexities of our plastic world. Jeb is not a radical environmentalist, but an average American who decides to take a closer look at our cultural love affair with plastics. For more information on the 74-minute documentary, visit http://www.bagitmovie.com.

The Speakers:

Maryland State Delegate Michael G. Summers (D-District 47). Delegate Summers is a member of the Ways & Means Committee serving on the Transportation and Election Law Sub-Committees. He Chairs the Prince George’s Delegation's Democratic Caucus and is Vice-Chair of the Law Enforcement and State Appointed Boards Committee of the Prince George’s County Delegation. 

Prince George's County Council Member Mary A. Lehman (D-District 1). Council Member Lehman is a leading advocate for a fee on disposable bags in Prince George’s County. Council Member Lehman has worked to pass significant environmental legislation including improvements to the county’s recycling program, a green stormwater retrofit incentives program, strengthening the energy efficiency requirements in the county building code, and an expansion of the county’s solar tax credit. 

Communications & Campaigns Manager for the Anacostia Watershed Society, Julie Lawson. Julie organizes the Trash Free Maryland Alliance, a network of nonprofits, businesses, and activists working to reduce litter in Maryland.
     
What You Can Do:

At the time of this posting, the Prince George’s County House Delegation is considering, PG 401-13, Authority to Impose Fees for Use of Disposable Bags, a proposed bill that would provide Prince George’s County with the authority to impose a fee on disposable shopping bags.

If PG 401-13 passes, it will be up to the County Council and County Executive to decide whether to exercise this authority, and what the specifics of a bag fee would entail - such as plans for the distribution of free reusable bags, public outreach, and litter clean up.  To learn more on PG 401-13, visit http://www.princegeorgeshousedelegation.com/legislation/bill-history?local=PG%20401-13. (Find out who your delegates are by going to www.mdelect.net.)     

Following the panel discussion, you are invited to keep the conversation going across the street at The Big Bad Woof in Hyattsville.

Conversations in the Corridor is held every second Sunday of the month from 5:00-7:00PM at Busboys & Poets in Hyattsville. CITC aims to foster honest and open dialogue in a neutral and welcoming space. These monthly discussions span the idea spectrum, addressing politics, arts, education, race, class and culture, the environment and animal rights, among other topics. Always free and open to all!