News / Articles

Poison Plastic Must Be Reduced

The LWVBWC Climate Team has spent the last few years studying the dangers of plastic to our health.  When we first started studying plastic the information was pretty sparse but as time has progressed the studies in multiple countries, scientific organizations and universities have multiplied as fast as the plastic litter we are attempting to dispose of.

 There is no doubt now as plastic particles have been discovered in human’s tissues, lungs, kidneys, fetal tissue, mother’s milk and even in our brains that plastic is poison for people.  It may seem like just an inert usable substance whose only problem is it does not disintegrate and so causes a tremendous litter problem. Even worse, plastic is made from fracked gas containing methane and over10,000 chemicals have gone into its manufacture—most of them unregulated. This is most likely not good for our health or the health of the planet.

We hosted several programs to educate the public.  We tabled at churches and fairs. We screened several movies. We created Plastic Man who initiated many conversations about plastic and its harms.  But eventually we decided it was time to move further. 

Single use plastic is the worst actor in this crisis. It is ubiquitous in bags and bottles.  Looking at our affiliate Beyond Plastic‘s website and what other states have done, we decided to convene a bigger caucus.  We invited all of the many groups who have an interest in Climate to meet with us on a Saturday morning. We hosted representatives from Resources, the City of Bellingham, and the League’s health committee. In all, 10 organizations answered our call.

After watching the movie,  We Are All Plastic People Now, Vicki Thomas, our research chair, presented a short presentation on the facts and then we broke into three groups to talk about what we had learned and what we thought about it.  From this discussion we created a Working Group. The people who said “yes” to this group will keep meeting and investigate solutions to the problem.  We are excited to convene a meeting in late April and begin our work together. You will be hearing from us as things progress.

Jayne Freudenberger LWVBWC Climate Team Chair