About the Campaign

Why are plastic bags bad for the Bay?
Plastic bags pollute our waters, smother wetlands and entangle and kill animals. In fact, approximately one million plastic bags pollute San Francisco Bay each year. Bay trash flows into the ocean to join the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, is a floating island of trash estimated at twice the size of Texas where plastic particles are more abundant than plankton.

Did you know?

  • Up to 90% of floating debris is plastic, which never biodegrades.
  • Plastic trash has entangled, suffocated, or poisoned at least 267 known animal species worldwide.
  • A study found an average of three pieces of trash along every foot of streams leading to San Francisco Bay – half of which is plastic.
  • 1.37 million plastic bags were removed from coastal areas worldwide on just one day.

What are we doing about it?
Volunteer pick up trash along the Bay shoreline.Save The Bay is fighting to dramatically reduce plastic bag litter in the Bay and ocean by advocating for legislation that stops the distribution of plastic and paper bags in the Bay Area and the entire state of California. Save The Bay is mobilizing tens of thousands of Bay Area residents to stand up to the plastics industry by supporting strong policies that will require the community to switch to reusable bags.

Have you heard?

  • Save The Bay supports statewide coalition of municipalities and NGOs preparing a Master Environmental Assessment, which will help cities fend off lawsuits.
  • As part of our Clean Bay Project, Save The Bay is working with Bay Area cities to end the distribution of free plastic and paper bags at all retail stores.

What can YOU do in your community?
Ridding our shorelines and waterways of plastic bag pollution will take effort from each one of us. Local residents, community leaders and policy makers must work together to improve the health of the Bay, the ocean and marine wildlife.

What can you do?