The mission of the Virginia Plastic Pollution Prevention Network (VP3N) is to promote and facilitate coordination, collaboration, and communication among groups working to reduce plastic pollution throughout the Commonwealth of Virginia. 

November 2025

Welcome to the VP3N

Our Next Virtual Meeting is Tuesday, November 18

at 2:00 PM EST

In this edition:

• VP3N Monthly Meeting November 18 - Virginia Marine Debris Reduction Plan
• Join VP3N, New VP3N Members

CVW Events and Announcements:

• Virginia Marine Debris Reduction Plan Input Sessions
• EPS Ban Subgroup
• Plastic Bag Fee Subgroup
• Cost of Plastic in Virginia Report

VP3N Partner Events and Announcements

• Simplify the Holidays
• Virginia Green Travel Conference
• Briefing on Beverage Bottle Return Systems
• Toxic 'Forever' Chemicals and Agriculture Webinar Series
• General Assembly Preview Watch Parties

Publications and Articles

• Testing Biosolids
• "Plastoline"

Monthly Highlights

• VP3N Partner of the Month - Prince William Soil and Water Conservation District
• Watch VP3N Recordings
• Plastic Reduction Messaging



*Newsletter content is provided by VP3N members

VP3N Meeting - November 18

2:00 - 3:00 PM EST

Virginia Coastal Zone Management Program

Clean Virginia Waterways and the Virginia Coastal Zone Management Program have been diligently working on the next five-year plan of the Virginia Marine Debris Reduction Plan. This plan is a roadmap for working together on sustained approaches to reduce the flow of plastic and other litter. Several input sessions have been held to gain feedback on the current 2026-2030 draft, and this month's VP3N meeting will be used as another input session.

Will Isenberg, Coastal Planner with the Coastal Zone Management Program, will give a brief overview and history of the Virginia Marine Debris Reduction Plan. You will then be guided through the current draft and asked for feedback considering economic, political, and social feasibility. We will review the actions about Consumer Debris, Microplastics and Microfibers, and Derelict Fishing Gear, as time allows. Please also consider these three questions:

1. Do any of the actions reflect work that you are already doing?
2. Is there any work you are doing not reflected by the actions?
3. Which actions should be added to the plan that are not currently included?

Email joseph@cleanvirginiawaterways.org if you plan on attending this meeting and would like the draft actions to review before the meeting.

Speaker: Will Isenberg, Coastal Planner

Virginia Coastal Zone Management Program

Google Meet joining info

Video call link: https://meet.google.com/rfr-tygg-fry

Or dial: ‪(US) +1 620-878-0718‬ PIN: ‪528 875 567‬#



*Please contact joseph@cleanvirginiawaterways.org if you do not have the calendar invite and would like it.

Members of the Virginia Plastic Pollution Prevention Network (VPPPN) are organizations that are working on issues related to plastic pollution including non-profits, educational facilities, businesses, trade industries, researchers and governmental agencies.

By joining the network, you get access to a Virginia-based marine debris listserv, your logo on the VP3N website, and collaborative opportunities on social media.

NEW VP3N MEMBERS 

• Keep Norfolk Beautiful

VMDRP Input Sessions

Clean Virginia Waterways (CVW) and the Virginia Coastal Zone Management Program (CZM) are inviting you to attend a meeting of your choice to update the Virginia Marine Debris Reduction Plan (VMDRP) for 2026-2030. The VMDRP is a collaborative approach to reducing the flow of marine debris into Virginia’s waters and we need your input.

We have one in-person meeting left, scheduled for November 19 in the Hampton Roads Planning District Commission Conference Room.

Please register using the button below.

EPS Phaseout VP3N Subgroup

When: Friday, November 21, 12:30 - 1:30pm

Where: Google Meet



What: This VP3N subgroup meets monthly to discuss and prepare for the expanded polystyrene (EPS) ban.

Details: Virginia's ban on EPS food containers begins on July 1, 2026 for all food vendors with fewer than 20 locations. Clean Virginia Waterways wants to ensure that these businesses have a smooth transition away from foam before next summer. If you are involved in food or food ware distribution, restaurant management, foam ban outreach and education, or are otherwise interested in helping ensure a seamless transition to more sustainable food container alternatives, please consider joining this VP3N subgroup to ask questions, offer your insight, and find collaborative opportunities.

Email Joseph Barnes at joseph@cleanvirgiaiawaterways.org to be added to the calendar invite with meeting link and agenda.

Join Our Monthly Virginia Plastic Bag Fee Subgroup

When: December 3, 10:30 - 11:30am (first Wed of each month)

Where: Google Meet

What: VP3N has a monthly plastic bag fee subgroup for our members. Our scheduled meeting time is the first Wednesday of the month at 10:30am. If you would like to be added to the email list and/or calendar invite for this call, please email Joseph@cleanvirginiawaterways.org.

Who: Anyone who currently lives or works in a City or County that has the bag tax and is willing to share their stories, anyone who has been involved in passing the bag tax and is willing to share lessons learned, and anyone who is interested in passing the bag tax in their locality.

Details: Any city or county in Virginia may impose a 5₵ tax on each disposable plastic bag provided to shoppers in local grocery stores, convenience stores, and pharmacies. The city or county needs to pass an ordinance to begin applying this tax.

The store collects the tax at the time of the sale. Money raised by this tax goes to support environmental cleanup, litter and pollution mitigation, environmental education efforts, or to provide reusable bags to recipients of SNAP or WIC benefits. 

For more information, please see Guidelines for the Virginia Disposable Plastic Bag Tax.

New Report from Clean Virginia Waterways:



Ask Not What Your Corporations Can Do For You: How the Plastic and Consumer Goods Industries Profit While Communities Drown in Taxpayer-Funded Pollution

Our latest research paper kicks off our new Research Series- a collection of publications exploring the intersections of science, policy, and community engagement in reducing marine debris.

The first paper challenges the traditional narrative of corporate sustainability and offers new perspectives on accountability and collaboration in addressing plastic pollution.

VP3N Partner Events!

Simplify the Holidays

Halloween is over, so we will soon be talking about the winter holidays. Prepare early to promote waste reduction in your community.

The Center for Biological Diversity's Simplify the Holidays campaign is customizable for any community, team, or project. This year, a pre-holiday season webinar recording and Simplify the Holidays Instagram channel are available! The Center is available for classroom, church, and workplace webinars, podcasts, and media interviews. Email them at sth@biologicaldiversity.org to work with staff, ask questions, or share photos or stories from your work.

Save the Date! 2026 Virginia Green Travel Conference

Briefing on Beverage Bottle Return Systems

From Waste to Resource: the Case for a Deposit Return System

Thursday, December 4, 2025

12:00pm - 1:00pm

Free Zoom Meeting

Join Environment Virginia and Virginia Bottle Bill for a briefing on beverage deposit return systems.

Virginia has the opportunity to greatly increase recycling and decrease litter through a popular and effective solution: beverage deposit returns (sometimes referred to as a Bottle Bill). These programs incentivize recycling of the most commonly littered items and are shown to keep valuable resources out of the landfill, incinerator, and environment.

We will be joined by experts from across the country to discuss the basics of bottle bills and take a deeper dive into how this type of policy could benefit Virginia.

Toxic 'Forever' Chemicals and Agriculture Webinar Series

General Assembly Preview Watch Parties

Join hundreds of Virginians and learn what issues we expect to come up during the 2026 General Assembly session. This is your best chance to hear about anticipated environmental legislation from statewide environmental experts and meet other conservation advocates from your area on the same day!

Join an in-person watch party (breakfast included!) or tune in online. In-person attendees will be able to network with other local community members and advocacy leaders during breakout conversations on how state-level policy impacts decisions at the local level and how to make an impact!

Publications and Articles

The following section contains news articles about plastic pollution and science submitted for newsletter content by VP3N members

Orange County Board Asks State Regulators to Test Biosolids for Forever Chemicals

Pyrolysis to Fuel

VP3N Partner of the Month

Prince William Soil and Water Conservation District

The Prince William Soil and Water Conservation District (PWSWCD), which focuses on protecting and enhancing water and soil resources in Prince William County, as well as its towns and cities, has a unique Water Quality Program.

The mission of the Conservation District is to provide leadership in the conservation of soil, water, and related resources in the community through assistance, information, and education. Its Water Quality Program works closely with community volunteers to collect water quality data (biological and chemical) and champions cleanup efforts in streams and water bodies across Prince William. The unique work of the Water Quality Program earned the 2022 National Earth Team Award from the National Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) within the US Department of Agriculture.

With the growing challenges to protecting clean water in Prince William, the Conservation District’s Water Quality Program is committed to raising awareness about the importance of clean water and supporting water science in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed for present and future generations.

The Prince William Soil and Water Conservation District has provided invaluable feedback to Clean Virginia Waterways for the 2026-2030 Virginia Marine Debris Reduction Plan, consistently showing up to input sessions and providing several examples of what they are working on and where they can take the lead over the next five years. Some of many examples of PWSWCD being a leader in the marine debris space include a traveling marine debris statue, trash monitoring and cleanups, and working on establishing a community water quality and pollution prevention educational center to promote more awareness around water quality issues.

Note: The email message can sometimes cut off here when viewing in your inbox. Be sure to click "View Entire Message" at the bottom of the email to view the rest of the newsletter.

Watch Last Month's VP3N Meeting

Clean Virginia Waterways maintains VP3N recordings on its YouTube page.

View last month's meeting below, or follow the link for the Clean Virginia Waterways YouTube page for all available VP3N recordings over the past five years. VP3N meetings will continue to be recorded and uploaded as they occur.

Plastic Messaging of the Month

This section is intended to help coordinate messaging, particularly via social media, to our supporters and networks across the state. To submit a graphic, website, or plastic-reduction tip that the VP3N should share, submit it to joseph@cleanvirginiawaterways.org with the subject line "Plastic Messaging."

This month's section comes from the Center for Biological Diversity's Simplify the Holidays campaign. Simplify the Holidays has a social media toolkit for winter holidays to encourage alternate gift giving and sustainable holiday traditions for families and friends to take up. We encourage you to explore https://simplifytheholidays.org/ and post their graphics!

If you would like to have your upcoming event, resource, or publication mentioned in the monthly VP3N eNewsletter, write a paragraph with the following information, and email it to VirginiaPPPN@gmail.com. 

FORMAT: Submissions to the VPPPN monthly eNewsletter must be sent as a Word or Pages document or as text in an e-mail. Word limit: 150. You can also send us a photo, logo, or flyer as a JPG.

CONTENT: Include the title, time, date and place of the event or program, and a phone number (with area code) or e-mail address of a contact person. State if the program is free or has a fee; has an age requirement or other restrictions; or has a registration deadline or welcomes drop-ins. Also include the name of the group sponsoring the event, and a website (if available) for more information. 

Are you reading a book about plastics, environmental justice, ocean sustainability and health or another related topic? What about a podcast series relevant to plastic pollution or marine debris? We want to know so we can share that information with other VPPPN members!

The Virginia Plastic Pollution Prevention Network is a Program of Clean Virginia Waterways, Virginia Coastal Zone Management Program and

Eco Maniac Company and is funded by the Virginia Coastal Zone Management Program.

Clean Virginia Waterways is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization. EIN 99-3105883.