LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – It's easy to disregard unsolicited financial offers that show up in your mailbox, but experts say those letters shouldn't simply be tossed out with the trash.

Scammers have been known to root through people’s garbage in search of documents with personal information.

To help folks avoid becoming victims of identity theft, Lou Tobian, associate state director for outreach and education with AARP Arkansas, says AARP is hosting a ShredFest event on Saturday.

He says documents to bring along include old banking, credit card and IRS statements.

"In my household, we even like to get rid of credit card offers that come in the mail, any direct piece of mail that has enough information on it that a scammer might be able to piece together and make up an identity in your place," he states.

Other documents to consider shredding include old medical statements or school documents.

ShredFest will be held at War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock from 9:30 a.m. to noon.

For those who cannot attend, Tobian recommends using a micro-cut shredder that will slice documents so finely that they cannot be pieced back together.

U.S. consumers lost nearly $17 billion to identify thieves in 2017 alone.

No more than three boxes of documents will be accepted per vehicle at ShredFest, nor will documents from businesses.

Tobian encourages participants to also bring non-perishable food items.

"We're collecting food on behalf of the Arkansas Foodbank,” he explains. “The document shredding is free but you might think of a food donation as your way of giving back."

Tobian says ShredFest is so popular that AARP has shredded documents from more than 400 vehicles at past events. However, it is only held if the weather permits.

"The weather looks kind of iffy, so the best way to get updates is to pre-register, and if you pre-register, then we'll make sure you get a notice of whether the event needs to be postponed or not," he states.

Information on pre-registering is available online at aarp.org/AR.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Conservation groups are calling for passage of a bill to phase out single-use plastics.

The Break Free From Plastic Pollution Act would hold companies accountable for the full life cycle of their products and packaging and expand reuse and refill programs.

Heidi Harmon, mayor of San Luis Obispo and co-chair of the California chapter of Elected Officials to Protect America, said less than 10% of plastic has ever been recycled. Most of it goes from our recycling bins to the incinerator, the landfill and ultimately the oceans.

"The industry conned us into believing that plastics were being recycled," Harmon asserted. "And as a result, since 2005 our plastic waste has doubled. At this rate, there will be more plastic in the ocean than fish, by weight, by 2050, which is crazy."

Opponents of the bill argued it puts too big a burden on industry and could cause prices to rise. According to the 5 Gyres Institute, nearly two-thirds of plastic becomes waste and by 2050 global production is projected to triple, accounting for 20% of oil consumption. American companies ExxonMobil and Dow are the two largest plastic producers in the world.

David Levine, president of the American Sustainable Business Council, said federal legislation is needed to spur companies to create truly recyclable products and packaging.

"We can overhaul how we design, manufacture, distribute our products, transitioning from single-use and toxic chemicals to a circular economy, a sustainable economy that creates new business opportunities and more jobs," Levine contended.

There are health implications as well. Last year, for the first time, researchers in Italy found microplastics in the placentas of unborn babies. Bills have been introduced in the House and Senate but have yet to receive a hearing or a vote.

HARTFORD, Conn. -- A coalition of Connecticut groups and lawmakers in support of new state bottle-deposit legislation are rallying in honor of Earth Day to raise awareness about reducing plastic waste.

Senate Bill 1037 in part raises the deposit value to 10 cents, creates more return sites, and expands what kind of containers can be returned for money.

Louis Rosado Burch, Connecticut program director at the Citizens Campaign for the Environment, said the existing bottle bill was last changed in 2009, and the new one includes miniature alcohol bottles, along with plastic juice and sports-drink containers, which would help issues of street and water pollution.

"One of the key components of the bottle bill is the fact that it helps to actually reduce litter, cuts down on litter," Rosado Burch explained. "Because it puts a financial incentive to recycle for every container."

Rosado Burch pointed out similar bills have been proposed and passed through the state Environment Committee, but didn't get called and voted on in the legislative session, in part, he noted, because beverage distributors and waste haulers opposed the increased handling fee.

The bill's 3.5 cent handling fee would provide additional income for redemption centers, among other aid.

"Municipalities are no longer able to afford the cost of managing all of our solid waste and recyclables," Rosado Burch contended. "What the bottle bill does is, it puts the onus on the beverage industry to pay their fair share of recycling this waste that blights our communities."

In 2009, the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection found that the state's modernized bottle bill saved municipalities $4.2 million to $6.9 million in avoided disposal and cleanup costs.

Rosado Burch asserted if passed, Phase One of the bill would increase consumer convenience.

"We think this bill is going to be a game changer between putting bottle machines in all of the chain pharmacies, Dollar Tree, these types of stores, which are already currently required by law to accept the containers that they sell for redemption," Rosado Burch observed.

He added with the amount of support from groups and lawmakers, including Gov. Ned Lamont, he's optimistic the bill will pass this session. The rally will take place from noon to 1:00 p.m. today on the south Capitol steps.

BALTIMORE -- Groups working to clean up the Baltimore Harbor are expediting their efforts by installing a fourth Trash Wheel next month.

Dubbed "Gwynnda, the Good Wheel of the West," she'll be part of the growing waste-removal system, one of several local initiatives to protect water quality and the ecosystem.

It should also create opportunities for future public access to the waterway.

Adam Lindquist, director of the Healthy Harbor Initiative at the Waterfront Partnership of Baltimore, said litter gets into storm drains and flows into the streams, where the trash wheels are situated to filter out debris.

"The Trash Wheels pick up about 250 tons of trash and debris from the Baltimore Harbor, every single year," Lindquist explained. "This new Trash Wheel is going to pick up more trash on its own than the other three Trash Wheels combined."

According to the Waterfront Partnership's 2020 report card, from May 2014 to 2020, the three Trash Wheels have collected more than 1,400 tons of trash, including thousands of plastic bags, and millions of plastic bottles, foam containers and cigarette butts.

Maryland recently banned foam containers, and come July of this year, a plastic bag ban will go into effect in Baltimore.

Lindquist noted environmental groups are optimistic these efforts will stop waste at the source.

"Our long-term goal is to put the Trash Wheels on a diet," Lindquist remarked. "And the way we do that is by reducing the amount of trash and amount of plastics ending up in our waterways in the first place."

Lindquist has high hopes for decreasing plastic bags in local waterways, citing a 72% drop in plastic-bag waste in the Potomac River after Washington, DC, put a five-cent fee on the bags.

He added beyond "Gwynnda's" installation, the partnership has set its sights on expanding plastic-bag regulations beyond Baltimore City, to the entirety of Maryland.


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