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08.13.12

Surfrider Foundation, Assemblyman Nathan Fletcher to Announce Support for Statewide Plastic Bag Ban

MEDIA ALERT MEDIA ALERT MEDIA ALERT

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
DATE 8/13/2012

Contact: Marisa Espinoza
Organization: Surfrider Foundation, San Diego Chapter
http://surfridersd.org/
E-Mail: marisa@surfridersd.org
Phone: (619) 370-9953

Contact: Dan Jacobson
Organization: Environment California
http://environmentcalifornia.org/
E-Mail: djacobson@environmentcalifornia.org
Phone: (916) 743-5356

Contact: Christina Di Leva
Organization: Office of Assemblyman Nathan Fletcher
http://assembly.ca.gov/assemblymembernathanfletcher/
E-Mail: christina.dileva@asmca.gov
Phone: (619) 865-3622

Surfrider Foundation, Assemblyman Nathan Fletcher to Announce
Support for Statewide Plastic Bag Ban

WHEN: Tuesday, August 14th, 2012 at 10:30 am PDT

WHERE: Kellogg Park, La Jolla Shores (access via Camino del Oro between Vallecitos and Calle Frescota in La Jolla)

WHAT: The San Diego Surfrider Foundation, Assemblyman Nathan Fletcher, and a coalition of environmental organizations, elected officials and business leaders will announce their support for AB 298 - legislation to ban the use of plastic bags statewide by 2015. The bill would require retailers to provide reusable bags for sale and charge a fee for recycled paper bags as an incentive for customers to use reusable bags. If passed, California would become the first state in the nation to pass a statewide plastic bag ban, and the law would mark a significant step in the effort to keep harmful plastics out of our oceans and waterways.

WHY: Californians use billions of plastic bags ever year, but few are ever recycled and many wind up polluting our waterways, beaches and oceans, or taking up space in landfills where it will be centuries before they fully biodegrade. Legislation in the form of AB 298, to be voted in the next 19 days, would ban single use plastic bags throughout the state of California.

WHO: Assemblyman Nathan Fletcher (75th District); Surfrider Foundation Executive Director Jim Moriarty; Solana Beach Deputy Mayor Dave Jones; Environment California Legislative Director Dan Jacobson; League of Conservation Voters San Diego President Livia Borak; Group Vice President, Marketing at Ralphs Grocery Company Kendra Doyel; Imperial Beach City Council member Jim King; Encinitas City Council member Theresa Barth; Solana Beach City Council members Lesa Heebner and Mike Nichols; eleven-year old activist Evan Lewis, the author of a petition to ban plastic bags in the city of San Diego; representatives from Green Vets, San Diego Coastkeeper, the Sierra Club, and additional staff from the Surfrider Foundation, including members of the Rise Above Plastics campaign.

MORE: Additional details on AB 298 legislation; additional details on the current state of plastic bag recycling. For more on the damage done to waterways, beaches and the ocean by plastic litter, go to the Surfrider Foundation's Rise Above Plastics page, or contact Haley Jain Haggerstone at (619) 929-5350 or Marisa Espinoza at (619) 370-9953 with the San Diego County Chapter of the Surfrider Foundation.

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