Long Beach NY Bag Legislation

In the summer of 2014 the Central Long Island Surfrider Foundation Chapter began tabling all events with a petition to gauge local interest in getting rid of plastic bags, while a local artist and activist Amanda Moore ran community activities to educate the public about the plastic pollution issues plaguing our oceans, even producing several reusable bags designed by young children and sold in farmers markets.

Other groups were brought into the mix and the BYOBLB coalition started working in earnest on bag legislation in Long Beach. This coalition has worked hard to capture 1000's of petitions signatures, secure support from dozens of local businesses, host Bag It screenings all over town, create an alliance with the local Chamber of Commerce, get the City Council on board and relentlessly push the message of why Long Beach needs to #riseaboveplastics. Chapter volunteer Amanda Moore has spearheaded these efforts for Surfrider both through her Executive Committee post and with other members of Long Beach's Environmental Advisory Board, also strong advocates of the bag bill. A successful rally on July 19th, 2016 organized by the Byobaglb coalition propelled the movement into the public eye even further and pressure mounted on the City to finalize a draft of the legislation.

Chapter website post here https://centralli.surfrider.org/2016/10/big-day-for-the-bag-fee/

In October 2016,the City Council passsed the legislation. News item here http://www.liherald.com/longbeach/stories/City-passes-law-to-curb-plastic-bag-pollution,84860