Most of Long Beach's pollution comes from the storm drain system and it’s this pollution, especially the plastic, that occupies the ocean, the stomachs of marine life and even birds, but never biodegrades so it's always in our environment. This pollution also speeds up global warming with its negative impact on the environment. Long Beach City Council can make a huge difference and provide solutions to this storm drain pollution problem by improving our storm drains through upgrading them to all contain high quality filters, and to place storm drain covers on all drains.
Even if you're not a Long Beach resident, you should definitely be concerned with the fact that Los Angeles county beaches and many others around the world have become very polluted. According to Heal the Bay, a non-profit environmental organization devoted to making Southern California coastal waters safe, healthy, and clean, “When it rains in LA county, millions of gallons of water flow over paved surfaces […] [and] pick up animal waste, metals, oils, toxic materials, bacteria, and pathogens, carrying them to our storm drain system to be dumped into our local rivers and beaches, usually with little or no treatment.” Essentially, our beaches don't only get polluted with trash, but they also get contaminated with toxic water and, according to Long Beach’s recycling program’s website, “[Our] storm drains lead straight to our ocean with no chemical or litter filtration.”
Pollution doesn't only make the beaches look bad, but Algalita, a non-profit organization “committed to solving the plastic pollution crisis in our oceans”, has found that “plastic litter has been linked to a loss of tourism, which environmentally harms local businesses […] and decreases property values,” and that “plastics cause severe harm to animals, especially marine wildlife [...] through biotic consumption, entanglement, modification to beruthic habitats, the spread of invasive species, and the transfer of chemicals to animal tissues.” They also found that “toxicants that sorb to plastic debris have the ability to bioaccumulate in the food chain, resulting in an even higher concentration of toxicants inside fish […] [that] have been linked to: cancer, malformation, and impaired reproductive ability,” and this can be found in not only animals, but humans too.
This has been of importance to me even more as I was born and raised in Long Beach and have lived there my entire life. As a young student, I want to make a difference and I don't want my future children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, to grow up in a polluted world affected by global warming that we created. By signing this petition, you and Long Beach City Council can help me make a difference.
