ANNUAL REPORT 2024

•  Senate Bill 263, introduced by Senator Trey Paradee and Representatives Paul Baumbach & Sophie Phillips, was  introduced as a first-go toward banning six-pack rings. SB263 did not move forward very far in the legislative process due to pushback by the bottling industry that it captured pallet wraps and hard plastic six pack connectors.  Additional legislation aimed at single-use plastic pollution and waste prevention is also  being planned for the 2025 General Assembly session

• With food waste being such a large  percentage (25%) what is sent to Delaware's landfills daily, Plastic Free  Delaware (aka Zero Waste First State) continued building the Delaware Community Composting Initiative to  provide educational programs, outreach and technical assistance to  potential project sites to establish community composting projects and to  encourage curbside composting.  Learn more here! WE opened our very first members community composting site in  partnership with New Castle County at the Talley Day Park. In just its first six months, the DCCI site      diverted almost 950 lbs of food scraps from the landfill. This equates to conserving 20 gallons of  gasoline, and reducing 0.18 metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions! And, we’re just beginning! More sites are in the planning and  permitting stages
   
• The fifth annual Delaware Youth  Environmental Summit (YES!) was attended by an over-capacity  attendance of more than 500 high school students from 34 high schools from  across Delaware free of charge.  The Delaware Youth  Environmental Summit (YES!) is aimed at engaging, inspiring and  encouraging Delaware’s high school students to become active in making a  difference regarding environmental issues.  Planning is now well  underway for the sixth annual summit to be held February 28, 2025 at a  larger venue which will allow us to more than double attendance. YES! was awarded the Jon Manon STEM Team  Educators Award by the Delaware Foundation for Science and Math Education  in November

• PFD was awarded a grant from National Geographic  to promote and encourage Delaware students of all ages to participate in  the global Slingshot  Challenge film project

• More than 4,600 Delaware residents were  directly touched or participated in one of PFD's educational programs in  2024, from online webinars, to school programs, community festivals, and  more

• Food waste reduction pilot projects were completed  at two schools, Wilmington Charter and Booker T. Washington Elementary in  Dover

• A variety of Monthly  Lunch & Learn webinars were well attended and all of our      virtual programs can be found on the PFD YouTube channel

• 2024 Green  Drinks virtual gatherings also attracted a similar monthly  audience on a variety of environmental topics and are available on YouTube

• We all had a blast at the 2nd annual #OptOutside Black Friday 5K and raised funds to support our  educational programs

• Our staff grew with a new Education &  Outreach Coordinator, and three interns assisting with the composting  sites and programs, tabling, and social media

All of PFD's achievements are only possible with generous support such as yours.  Please consider a gift to Plastic Free Delaware now so that 2025 can bring us even closer to a zero waste future with less single-use plastic pollution! 

• Because food waste is 25% of what is sent to Delaware's landfills daily, Plastic Free Delaware (aka Zero Waste First State) launched the Delaware Community Composting Initiative to provide educational programs, outreach and technical assistance to potential project sites to establish community composting projects and to encourage curbside composting.  Learn more!
   
• The plastic bag legislation passed in 2021 went into effect on July 1st and has already had an enormous positive impact: 
  “Our sanitation crews are thrilled!  They are seeing much less recycling contamination and they have noticed a big difference in the litter control.  The plastic bag legislation has been the most impactful thing ever in the City as far as trash goes.  I am a huge fan of what Plastic Free Delaware is achieving.  Keep up the good work!"  Kelly Williams, City of Wilmington, Director of Public Works
   
• Passed in 2021, Senate Bill 24 also went into effect this year on July 1st and banned the release of balloons, but even prior to that was shown to be having an effect through the increased public awareness and education surrounding consideration of the legislation.
  Data from beach cleanups by the Delaware Chapter of Surfrider Foundation indicates 1,088 balloons were collected during 56 beach cleanups in 2021, but as of October 2022 only 392 balloons had been found in 70 beach cleanups so far this year
   
• Senate Bill 134, introduced by Senator Trey Paradee and Representative Paul Baumbach, aimed to ban the use of expanded polystyrene (aka Styrofoam) and plastic picks, and allow plastic straws by request only in dining establishments sailed through the state Senate.  It was stalled in the House but laid the groundwork for legislation in 2023
   
• The Wild & Scenic Film Festival for Schools program was launched and brings inspiring independent films with environmental themes to all school grade levels free of charge.  Check it out and inquire about bringing it to your affiliated schools!
   
• The third annual Delaware Youth Environmental Summit (YES!) was attended by more than 360 high school students from eighteen high schools from across Delaware.  We were thrilled to be gathered back in person again after a year as a virtual summit.  The Delaware Youth Environmental Summit (YES!) is aimed at engaging, inspiring and encouraging Delaware’s high school students to become active in making a difference regarding environmental issues.  Planning is now well underway for the fourth annual summit to be held March 2, 2023
   
• PFD was excited to partner with Delaware Chapter of the Surfrider Foundation to launch the “Hold On To Your Butt” campaign aimed at reducing cigarette butt littering on Delaware’s beaches
   
• 2022 Monthly Lunch & Learn webinars were well attended and ranged in topics from Sustainable Fashion, Single-Use Plastic and its Role in Climate Change, Curbside Composting, the Surfrider Foundation's Ocean Friendly Restaurant Program, exploring Truth in Labeling issues, Delaware's oyster shell recycling programs, and more.  All of our online programs can be watched on the PFD YouTube channel
  
• 2022 Green Drinks virtual gatherings also attracted a similar monthly audience on a variety of environmental topics and are available on YouTube
   
• More than 3,100 Delaware residents were directly touched or participated in one of PFD's educational programs in 2022, from online webinars, to school programs, community festivals, and more
   
• And last but certainly not least, just this month, conversations and outreach by PFD advocates with Delaware's U.S. Senator Tom Carper, Co-Chair of the Senate's Environment & Public Works Committee, helped lead to the first ever Congressional hearing on plastic pollution reduction laying the groundwork for federal level legislation to reduce single use plastic pollution.