In 2009, BYOB York leader Victoria Simon began gathering information about the environmental impacts of single use bags, learning that an alarming 300 million bags end up in landfills, incinerators, and as litter in Maine's waterways and along roadways, and less than 5% of disposable plastic bags are recycled.In May 2013, Maine State Legislator and friend, Paul McGowan  (recently deceased), inspired by our conversations and a local screening of the movie, Bag It, introduced a bill that would impose a fee on single use bags at point of sale.  The bill was not successful but a committee of concerned York citizens formed to educate ourselves and figure out what we could do to address the problem. We learned that a number of municipalities were enacting a variety of fees and bans that were having a measureable effect in reducing plastic bags. October 2013 BYOB York was officially introduced to the community at York’s Market fest. Our mission is to raise awareness of the hazard of plastic bags by telling folks the facts including how long if ever these bags take to decompose, how they strangle birds and poison fish.  BYOB York distributed cards with tips to help shoppers remember their reusable bags and displayed a variety of durable, easy to use and attractive reusable bags.  We also surveyed the community about their concerns and asked them if they would support a fee or ban on bags.  We documented that many York residents are interested, even passionate about eliminating plastic bags at check out. While we recognize that there are countless ways to address the growing environmental crisis, reduction in plastic bag pollution is something that is visible, local, has an easy fix and has support within our community.