‘Bag it Chester’ distributes hundreds of reusable bags in campaign to clean up Chester

CHESTER, Pa. - People hit the streets Friday handing out hundreds of reusable bags to contribute to a cleaner, healthier Chester by reducing waste, recycling reusable materials and repurposing still-viable scrap items.

The average shopper brings home hundreds of single-use bags each year. Few end up recycled with most ending up in landfills, waterways or on city streets.

A coalition of community groups led by the Chester Housing Authority gathered in Chester’s Deshong Park Friday to say enough is enough:

“It is our responsibility to take this education and stop the contamination in our community," Lanoana Odon with "Bag it Chester" said.

With that, they hit the streets of Chester to hand out reusable shopping bags with 500 being passed out in the first run to shoppers throughout the city.

Eight states, including Delaware and dozens of cities, have enacted legislation to ban or reduce the use of single-use plastic bags. Pennsylvania nor Chester is on that list.

“A lot of the time it takes too long for people to legislate good health. We can do it without legislation, without policies. It needs to be the people’s policy," Ulysses Slaughter with "Bag it Chester" explained.

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