Plastic or reusable?
Our future, our choice

BRING YOUR OWN BAG Campaign

Trash Academy in collaboration with Clean Water Action and the city of Philadelphia’s Zero Waste and Litter cabinet, initiated an exciting campaign to reduce the amount of plastic bags in our streets and in our waste stream. The ban was passed in 2019. Trash Academy led activities with more than sixty organizations across the city and had deep conversations with over 5000 residents.  A recent study demonstrated that the bag ban, initially delayed by Covid, has diverted 200 million bags from the waste stream since going into effect. 

Our goal is to see all of Philadelphia’s diverse communities take action to promote reusable bags.

Americans use 100 billion plastic bags each year. Each bag is used for an average of 12 minutes, yet their effects persist for much longer. One way to limit this damage to both our health and to the environment is to choose reusable bags over plastic.