Why Our Bans on Single Use Plastics Matter

This right here. This is why our bans on single-use plastics matter. This is why we need to focus on the "reduce" and "reuse" above all else--even recycling and the supposed "composting" of bio-plastics.

As we fight to ban single-use plastics and promote reusables in cities and towns across America, petrol companies plan to build or expand 264 petrochemical plants and increase U.S. plastics production by 33%.

Petrol companies see the writing on the wall. The internal combustion engine is on its last leg. In the next decade, the majority of vehicles on the road in developed nations will be hybrid or plug-in electric vehicles. How do petrol companies intend to keep the demand for oil high? To quote the film The Graduate:

"Mr. McGuire: I want to say one word to you. Just one word.

Benjamin: Yes, sir.
Mr. McGuire: Are you listening?
Benjamin: Yes, I am.
Mr. McGuire: Plastics."

That's right, everything from your paper plates and cups to your soda cans (inside and outside) are coated in films of plastic.

Oil and gas wells (on OUR public lands and off OUR coastlines) produce the chemicals needed to produce 99% of these plastics. And if the drilling and mining impacts on wildlife, water, and frontline communities weren't destructive enough, our failure to reduce single-use consumption has resulted in the transport of our waste around the world, to developing nations where our waste (even the contaminated plastic we put in our recycling bin) is piled up and burned. If these plastics don't end up polluting the air, then they break-up over into microplastics over hundreds and thousands of years and end up in our drinking water, our food, and our even our rain.

End this senseless cycle. Be a part of the solution. Feel free to reach out to me if you want to strategize on how to move your community (big or small), your business, or your household to be #zerowaste. <3