McHenry County Board proclaims August as county wide BYOBag Month

At a July 19 meeting, the McHenry County Board voted unanimously to proclaim August 2016 as a countywide BYOBag (Bring Your Own Bag) Month.

The program of the Environmental Defenders encourages residents to use reusable bags when shopping and supports businesses as they help promote the use of alternatives to plastic and paper at checkout.

Founded in October 2013, the BYOBag Committee has worked tirelessly to raise awareness of the detrimental effects that plastic bags have on our environment and the high cost of cleanup when bags make their way from landfills, are airborne or end up in our rivers and other features of the watersheds in McHenry County. Plastic bags cost businesses an enormous of amount of money, as do paper bags, and both have consequences on the environment during processing as well as transport. Plastic bags, once in our environment, can remain for hundreds of years due to the indestructible nature of plastic polymers. Plastic bags are not necessary and can be easily replaced by bags that can be used for shopping for dozens of years. One reusable bag can replace the use of tens of hundreds of plastic bags.

Several towns in McHenry County have declared their own BYOBag months over the past two years and more plan to do the same in the near future. Some towns that have proclaimed BYOBag months include: Algonquin, Cary, Crystal Lake, Huntley, Lake in the Hills, Spring Grove and Woodstock, which has proclaimed BYOBag Year through April 2017. The Environmental Defenders has received two grants from the McHenry County Community Foundation to help inform the public of the vital need to reduce the use of plastic bags, made from oil, a nonrenewable resource which cannot be replaced by nature once used up. The BYOBag signs can already be seen throughout McHenry County and on bag racks given to stores to help them promote their own reusable bags.

The BYOBag Committee asks the public to observe BYOBag beginning August 2016 and maintain a new habit of bringing one's own bags throughout the years to come.

Future endeavors of the BYOBag Committee include developing an ordinance promoting a charge for plastic and paper bags, examples of which already exist in our communities. It is hoped through teamwork and a mindful eye on a sustainable McHenry County that each town will eventually adopt such an ordinance.

Founded in 1970, the Environmental Defenders of McHenry County is a nonprofit, membership organization dedicated to the preservation and improvement of the environment. To learn more, visit www.conservemc.org or www.facebook.com/ConserveMC