🧋Rallying to Reduce Single-Use Packaging in NY!🗽
On January 28, 2025, a powerful group of roughly 200 amazing volunteers, nonprofit staffers, waste reduction experts, faith leaders, canners, and recycling advocates gathered in Albany, NY to tell Legislators that New York Is NOT Disposable and to express their support for the Packaging Reduction & Recycling Infrastructure Act (S1464/A1749), a critical piece of legislation that was recently reintroduced by its sponsors Senator Pete Harckham and Assemblymember Deborah Glick.
If passed, the Packaging Reduction & Recycling Infrastructure Act (or PRRIA, for short) would do the following:
Force polluting companies to pay to deal with their packaging waste,
Require companies to reduce their single-use packaging by 30% over 12 years,
Get 16 of the most toxic chemicals and substances (including lead, PFAS, formaldehyde, phthalates, bisphenols, vinyl chloride, cadmium, mercury, benzene, halogenated flame retardants, perchlorate, toluene, and more) out of packaging,
Save taxpayers and municipalities money, and
Provide much-needed support for recycling and reuse programs.
The bill made it all the way through the State Senate last June but, unfortunately, the Assembly ran out of time to vote on it so the coalition is back in Albany in force to try to pass the nation’s strongest packaging reduction law to date.
The New York Is NOT Disposable Advocacy Day began with check in, coffee and a light breakfast at the Westminster Presbyterian Church followed by a brief orientation and remarks by Judith Enck of Beyond Plastics, Katherine Nadeau of Environmental Advocates of NY, Blair Horner of NYPIRG, and Alexis Goldsmith of Beyond Plastics.
Team leaders met with the people in their groups, gathered packets of literature to leave with law-makers, and discussed their meeting assignments. Then folks headed over to the Capitol Building for a noon rally on the dramatic Million Dollar Staircase which included an eye-catching backdrop a cascading tidal wave of household plastic waste created by artist and advocate, Chrissanth Greene-Gross.
Following the rally which included fiery remarks from Dr. Sohaib Chekimas of Muslim United Alliance of Albany, Brother Jacek Orzechowski of Siena College, Rabbi Danielle Weisborot of B'nai Shalom in Westchester, Blair Horner of NYPIRG, and Alexis Goldsmith of Beyond Plastics, teams of advocates headed to meet with their elected legislators to encourage them to support PRRIA as well as the Bigger Better Bottle Bill, an important bill to update and modernize New York State’s existing 42-year old container deposit law (aka Bottle Bill).
Our advocates included a number of young people who spoke eloquently about the need to reduce plastic pollution and packaging and protect the Earth and all of our health. In fact, it was a 12-year-old girl who seized the bull by the horns, confidently asking long-serving State Senator Leroy Comrie of district 14 in Queens if he would co-sponsor the packaging reduction bill and vote yes on it? When the Senator responded, “Yes, I will,” the young lady gave a heartfelt “Hurray” and pumped her first, while her entire group (we’re looking at you, Team 2!) erupted into cheers. Look out Albany!
Kudos to one of our youngest advocates (in the red sweatshirt) for encouraging Senator Comrie to support the PRRIA!
Our teams of advocates met with a total of 69 legislative offices, pulling some Senators and Assemblymembers off of the floor of their chambers to discuss and build support for these important bills.
If you live in New York and would like to get involved in helping to support packaging reduction, good news — you don’t have to wait for our next in-person rally and advocacy day.
Call your legislators today to urge them to co-sponsor the Packaging Reduction & Recycling Infrastructure Act. Find their phone numbers and simple talking points you can use here.
