City Keeps Pollutants Out of Waterways Through Multi-Faceted Approach

Sources of waterway pollution can take many different forms. In recent years, the San Jose Environmental Services Department in California has been attempting to target each one in an effort to clean up waterways in the Santa Clara Valley. Single-use plastic bags could often be found floating in area waterways, so they were banned in 2012. A 10-cent fee was also mandated for paper bags. Reusable bags were promoted as the preferred alternative for carrying merchandise and groceries home from a retailer. In 2012, an estimated 400 bags per resident ended up in litter-related trash, a figure that has now been