By Sharon Gibbons
As we approach International Coastal Cleanup Day on September 21, our local communities of the Bay Area are increasingly mindful of the need for a sea change in our daily consumption of plastics. Merriam-Webster defines “sea change” as “a marked change: a transformation.” As we prepare to clean up our community shoreline parks and celebrate their natural beauty, we need to take a hard look at our consumer habits that are contributing to an environmental crisis. As consumers and community members, we need to make a sea change replacing single use plastics with green alternatives.
In “The United States of Plastic,” The Guardian describes how our single use plastics are polluting poor countries as the US seeks out countries to recycle our exported plastics since China stopped taking our plastic recycling shipments in 2017. In addition, the world’s oceans have become a dumping ground for an estimated 17.6 billion pounds of our plastic annually, and plastic is pervasive in both wildlife and human environs planet-wide. Time author Markham Heid cites studies in his May 2019 article finding plastic in several brands of bottled water, and in more remote places such as groundwater aquifers, and airborne in the Pyrenees. His article is titled with a question: “Your Bottled Water Probably Has Plastic in It. Should You Worry?” As watershed stewards, we should worry and push to transform our old habits of consumer convenience.
As consumers, we can use our buying power to support this sea change to not use single- use plastics in our many daily choices: shopping at stores that provide bulk items, frequenting farmers markets for locally grown produce, and having a CSA box to receive weekly produce. Simple acts such as using a reusable water bottle and bringing a travel mug to the coffee shop help eliminate plastic. New businesses are experimenting with the circular economy, such as Fillgood in Albany, by providing a store where consumers can bring containers to fill up with household soaps and detergents. Demand has grown rapidly and they have expanded their store hours in addition to their delivery service. People are looking for solutions and have found support from websites such as https://myplasticfreelife.com/ . Changing our habits of consumption is a positive step we can take very day.
California lawmakers are also trying to work on solutions to the high cost we pay to clean up plastics and to make manufacturers accountable. The California Circular Economy and Plastic Pollution Reduction Act, SB 54 and AB 1080, require reductions in single-use packaging and products sold or distributed in California by 75 percent by 2030. After 2030, these items must be reusable, recyclable or compostable. The bill also encourages in-state manufacturing of items using recycled material generated in California. Other bills include the California Recycling Market Development Act, AB 1583, to support the state’s recycling structures and to prevent recycling from being exported. As community members and watershed stewards, we can support our lawmakers in their pioneering efforts to take responsibility for plastic recycling and cleaning up our global footprint.
