The mission of the Virginia Plastic Pollution Prevention Network (VPPPN) is to promote and facilitate coordination, collaboration, and communication among groups working to reduce plastic pollution throughout the Commonwealth of Virginia. | | |
Welcome to the VP3N
Our Next Meeting is Tuesday, May 20th at 2PM
In this edition:
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Monthly Meeting in May - Discussing Virginia's Plastic Bag Tax
- Sign-on to Urge Congress to Fund Coastal Management Programs
- Mid-Atlantic Regional Council on the Ocean Microplastics Webinar
- Pre-Production Plastic Pellets (PPPP) Virtual Webinar
- Hundreds of volunteers participated in first-ever International Plastic Pellet Count
- Virginia Clinicians for Climate Action - Plastics, Climate Change & Health Webinar
- Clean Virginia Upcoming Events
- Save the Date: Paint and Sip Night with Clean Virginia Waterways
- Sea Turtle "Shellabration" at Back Bay National Wildlife Refuge
- Register for Clean the Bay Day
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Fostering Sustainable Behavior workshop for Oceania on May 26-28 and for North America on June 3-5.
- VPPPN is rebranding - sign up on the new membership form today!
- World Sea Turtle Day is only one month away!
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Reduce Plastic - May Tip of the Month - Swap Single-Use Containers for Reusable, Refillable Ones
*Newsletter content is provided by VPPPN members
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VP3N Meeting - May 20th from 2-3 PM
Discussing Virginia's Plastic Bag Tax
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Join us to learn more about Virginia's disposable plastic bag tax.
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, or environmental education efforts, or to provide reusable bags to recipients of SNAP or WIC benefits.
What types of bags are subject to this tax?
Disposable plastic bags provided to shoppers in grocery stores, convenience stores, or pharmacies. The tax applies whether the bags are provided to the customer free of charge, or if the store charges the customer for the bags.
Tax Rate: 5₵ per bag
Guidelines for the Virginia Disposable Plastic Bag Tax
We want to hear from you about your bag tax experiences! Please join our call on 5/20 at 2 PM
Google Meet joining info
Video call link: meet.google.com/rfr-tygg-fry
Or dial: (US) +1 620-878-0718 PIN: 528 875 567#
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JOIN THE VIRGINIA PLASTIC POLLUTION PREVENTION NETWORK
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.
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Recent reporting shows that State Coastal Zone Management Grants will be eliminated in the President’s proposed FY’26 federal budget. In response, the Coastal States Organization (CSO) is pulling together a sign-on statement in support of Coastal Zone Management programs for businesses, local governments, community-based organizations, academic institutions, land trusts, tribal nations, non-profits, and local citizens. The CSO is asking for help to activate support from around the United States to urge Congress to defend these critical programs.
This funding must be continued if Virginia 's coast and offshore ocean are to remain vibrant.
Please support State Coastal Zone Management Programs by signing the statement linked below by May 23, 2025
*Clean Virginia Waterways is funded in part by the Virginia Coastal Zone Management Program through a grant from NOAA under the federal Coastal Zone Management Act. This funding includes support for the implementation of the Virginia Marine Debris Reduction Plan.
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Mid-Atlantic Regional Council on the Ocean
MARCO Microplastics Webinar
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Microplastics Impact on Marine Species and Habitats on 6/9/25.
This webinar will explore the impact of microplastics on aquatic ecosystems. The webinar will focus on top research priorities, standardization of methods, and the vulnerability of habitats to microplastic-related threats. Presenters will share research on impacts to plankton, fish species, and seagrass beds as they discuss the morphologic, toxicologic, and biogeochemical effects of microplastics across field and lab-based studies. A facilitated discussion and audience Q&A will follow. Register now to secure your spot!
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NOAA’s Office of Response and Restoration and the University of New Hampshire’s Coastal Response Research Center will host the Pre-Production Plastic Pellets (PPPP) virtual webinar on June 3, 2025. An agenda is linked here. The webinar will cover PPPP response as follow-up to a previous in-person workshop held in September 2023. Further information on the previous event can be found here.
RSVP by May 30th to Kathy Mandsager, kathy.mandsager@unh.edu or 603-862-1545
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Around 1,000 volunteers sifted through sand and scoured shoreline vegetation in search of plastic pellets or nurdles as part of the first-ever International Plastic Pellet Count held on Saturday, May 3rd. Volunteers found plastic pellets in 66% of the 368 of places where they looked, and 52,458 plastic pellets were found in total.
This day of action was a chance for individuals and organizations across the country and beyond to go to their local waterways, look for plastic pellets and record what they found, so we can all have a better understanding of where this pollution is happening. In total, over 80 local organizations participated and hundreds of individuals.
Plastic pellets, also known as nurdles, are tiny beads of plastic made from gas or oil. Lightweight and numerous, they often spill during manufacturing and transport, inevitably ending up in our environment, especially our waterways. It’s estimated that 10 trillion plastic pellets enter the oceans every year. Once in the environment, these tiny pellets can cause big problems.
If you missed the opportunity to participate in the International Plastic Pellet Count, you can still contribute to this citizen science effort and go out on a plastic pellet hunt any day. Here’s some information to get you started.
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Details: Webinar on Plastics, Climate Change, and Brain Health
Featuring: Dr. Elizabeth Ryznar — psychiatrist, educator, plastics & neurohealth expert
Date: Tuesday, May 27 at 6:00 PM ET
Virginia Clinicians for Climate Action (VCCA) has an amazing upcoming event with Dr. Elizabeth Ryznar, who will explore the emerging science behind plastic waste, its connection to climate change, and its impact on brain health. This is an urgent and often overlooked aspect of the climate-health connection.
We hope to get broad participation and we need your help to spread the word about this important webinar and fundraiser.
| | Clean Virginia Waterways Upcoming Events | | |
Save the Date: Paint and Sip Night with Clean Virginia Waterways
When: Tuesday, June 10th
Where: Brock Environmental Center (3663 Marlin Bay Court, Virginia Beach)
Time: 6:00 PM - 9:00 PM
Join us for a creative and relaxing evening as we paint beautiful, clean Virginia waterways while sipping your favorite beverages—all for a great cause! Proceeds from the event will support Clean Virginia Waterways in their mission to protect and preserve our environment.
Ticket details coming soon—stay tuned!
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Sea Turtle "Shellabration" at Back Bay National Wildlife Refuge
Date: Sunday, June 15th
Location: Back Bay National Wildlife Refuge (4005 Sandpiper Rd, Virginia Beach, VA 23456)
Time: 9:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Celebrate sea turtles during Sea Turtle Week and make a difference! Join us for a morning of environmental action with a beach cleanup, while discovering fascinating insights about sea turtles and their habitats. Learn how you can help protect marine life by keeping our waterways free of debris. This event is part of the Global Ocean Cleanup. Let’s work together to preserve our oceans—see you there!
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36th Annual Clean the Bay Day
Saturday, June 7, 9am – Noon
Register Today!
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What: Fostering Sustainable Behavior workshop for Oceania on May 26-28 and for North America on June 3-5.
These workshops are held over Zoom and consist of three four-hour sessions spread over three consecutive days. The training occurs at a convenient time for attendees from across North America and Oceania. It is very well evaluated without the cost, inconvenience, and emissions associated with in-person training. Participants receive a certificate that they have been trained in community-based social marketing.
Details for the North American training can be found here, while information for Oceania is here. Drafted email that can be used to persuade a supervisor to support attendance (the North America email is here, and the Oceania email is here). Group rates for five or more attendees from one agency are also available for both workshops (email dmm@cbsm.com for more information on group rates).
| | World Sea Turtle Day is only one month away! | | |
Join the AZA Sea Turtle SAFE Program to celebrate over 110 million years of sea turtle history and conservation with two exciting opportunities to explore and share:
Live Webinar: Conservation in Action
- Join Callie Veelenturf of The Leatherback Project as she shares four real-world case studies using sea turtle science to drive conservation across Latin America.
- Monday, June 16 | 12–1 PM ET
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Register here: Webinar Link
World Sea Turtle Day Toolkit
- Help spread awareness with the ready-to-share content:
- Social media posts
- Worksheets & educational activities
- Key sea turtle facts
- Download the PDF
- View on Canva
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In addition to fighting trash and pollution, reusing containers reduces greenhouse gas emissions. How much emissions are reduced depends on the type of container, but reusable cups save emissions after six uses and reusable bowls save emissions after 13 uses.
“Updating this reusables language in the FDA code was a herculean task and represents the codification of reuse at the highest levels,” said Dr. Dagny Tucker, who co-led the committee tasked with overhauling the code. “It’s a significant step forward for the reuse movement.”
Reuse and refillable changes to the federal food code include:
● Allows new types of businesses to enter the reuse/refill market, which will help build infrastructure to transition from single-use to muti-use by allowing more flexibility for third-party washing companies and bring-your-own containers.
● Allows consumers to fill a clean, sanitized multi-use container. This means it should make it easier for people to bring containers from home to use in restaurants, hot bars, bulk aisles and deli counters pursuant to local health inspector interpretations. Allowing people to fill their own containers means everyone, regardless of their ability to pay, can participate in the reuse economy.
● Allows fresh hot food or drinks (with or without milk) in reusable containers if done through a contamination-free process.
Food codes vary by state, but any state that adopts this new guidance will be making it easier for people to reuse and refill containers.
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The VPPPN monthly eNewsletter wants
YOUR INPUT!
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If you would like to have your upcoming event (or publication) mentioned in the monthly VPPPN 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!
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Please Support the
Virginia Plastic Pollution Prevention Network
| Please consider a donation to support the VPPPN if you have found it to be valuable to you and your organization. We would appreciate your support of $10, $20 or more. Member organizations that donate $100 or more will have their logo and website link featured on the VPPPN website. | | | | |
