Girl Petitions Quinn to Ban Plastic Bags

What once was a 12-year-old girl's school project is now a political movement.

Abby Goldberg is fed up with plastic bags flying from the landfill near her Grayslake home into nearby trees, streams and the mouths of unaware animals.
 
So the Prairie Crossing seventh-grader decided to petition Gov. Pat Quinn to make a change.
 
Goldberg wants to intercept a proposal she calls “a dirty trick” by the oil and chemical industry that recently passed by Illinois lawmakers. The legislation requires plastic-bag recycling programs but prohibits towns from banning or charging for them.
 
The proposal awaits Quinn’s signature, and Goldberg wanted to reach him first.

She put a petition on advocate website change.org, and her plan went viral. Titled “Governor Quinn: Don’t Let Big Plastic Bully Me!” the petition grabbed more than 150,000 signatures and was delivered Tuesday by Goldberg herself to the governor’s office. 
 
The bag ban idea would tax the use of plastic bags or eliminate single-use plastic bags, an idea many environmentalists prefer and one that Goldberg’s petition calls “2,000 percent more effective than ‘bring your own bag’ campaigns.”
 
Goldberg hopes to get as many supporters Tuesday to “stand behind [her] literally and take those steps to his office with [her].” 
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