Plastic pollution is wreaking havoc on our environment and posing a real danger to New Englanders' health. Microplastics, small pieces of plastic, oftentimes entering the environment when plastic litter breaks down, have been found in water, soil, animals, and human beings. Among the worst types plastic litter are single-use plastic bags.
Wildlife, like whales and birds, consume and are entangled in plastic bags which damage their health or even kill them. Plastic bags also contaminate recycling, jamming equipment and costing taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Plastics pose a serious climate threat. They are made from fossil fuels like oil and gas, and their production releases dangerous amounts of carbon pollution and other toxics into the atmosphere. It doesn't end there, however – plastics are polluting at every stage of their production, use, and disposal.
Many communities are already fighting back. Cities and town across New England have passed local bag bans, which have an incredible impact. Around the world, it's been found that bag bans, especially with fees on other single-use bags, reduce plastic bag usage by up to 90 percent and dramatically reduce pollution. With such a great track record of success, and so much at risk to our land, oceans and personal health, it's critical that states adopt this policy too.
Legislators in every New England state are working to pass bills to ban single-use plastic shopping bags from retail stores if they haven't already – will you stand with Conservation Law Foundation and tell them to pass a bill to fight plastic pollution?
