Single-Use Plastics are Bad

A couple posts ago I discussed my confused relationship with straws. It was a rather glib approach to a very serious problem. I can be glib. Today I share with you the hard work of my son, his teachers, and his classmates, to bring awareness to the dangers of straws and other single-use plastics that I was recently so casually glib about. 

My son is in 2nd grade. This year they worked on a big unit about the oceans and the creatures and corral reefs in them. They also learned about the plastic pollution in our oceans. As a class, they became very concerned about the impact of the garbage, and particularly plastics, in our oceans. They started picking up plastic on the playground. They started examining the plastics used in their lunches, and how they were disposed of. A couple of the students (girls, naturally) wanted to start a newspaper to inform the people of our town about our living oceans and their peril due to plastic garbage. 

One of the things the 2nd graders decided to do was to present a request at the Burlington City Council meeting for an ordinance to ban single-use plastic bags, as other cities have done. So, a couple of weeks ago, a number of the 2nd graders gathered their thoughts and took turns standing at the microphone and shared some scary and important data with the city council. It was the following: adorable, scientific, inspiring, informative, nerve-wracking, civic, impactful, well-executed, and more adorable. 

The plan was for my kid to speak first. I thought for sure we were treading into melt-down territory on the day of the meeting. But he was strong of spirit. He showed no fear in anticipation of public speaking. My mind was boggled. We arrived at city hall and Buck joined the rest of his classmates without hesitation. The teachers began the presentation with a display of a very long rope made out of single-use plastic grocery bags from eight families, which was the kids' idea. Then my kid walked up to the lectern, stood on a chair, and spoke words into the microphone. 

Here he is, in my crappy picture, at the lectern. I was so sweaty and nervous and excited that I did not take any good pictures. He is wearing a plaid shirt and striped tie, per his choice. He said: "Americans use 100 BILLION single-use carryout bags each year. It takes 12 million barrels of oil to produce that many bags. AND oil spills have damaged our planet as well." 

Seven other children stood on a chair at the lectern and spoke into the microphone. Here is what the taught us: 

1) Eight of our second grade families sent in plastic grocery bags that they had laying around the house. When we tied them together, they measured 513 feet long, which is one and a half lengths of our school.

2) If the bags from America's Target stores were tied together, they would circle the earth SEVEN times EACH YEAR....and that's just Target! Half of all plastic made every year is made to be used once, then thrown away. Plastic doesn't break down into anything useful to other living things. 

3) Every minute, enough plastic to fill a dump truck enters the ocean. Much of it is plastic bags. 8.8 MILLION TONS OF PLASTIC ENDS UP IN OUR OCEANS EVERY YEAR. We have seen around 52 percent of the world's wildlife disappear in the past 40 years, and if we continue to dump plastic into the world's oceans, this number will increase if things don't change. [that was Buck's best friend Lila who shared that. xo]

4) Items we use for only a few minutes, like plastic bags, water bottles, cups or straws, should NEVER end up in the belly of a whale. In April 2018, a whale was found dead with nearly 65 POUNDS of plastic trash crammed into its stomach. 700 marine species could become extinct due to plastic being eaten by fish, birds, and marine mammals.

5) Almost all of the plastic EVER MADE is still with us today. Plastic is FOREVER. We don't want to see our world become a ball of plastic bags!

6) Skagit County uses 37 million bags every year. 99 out of 100 plastic bags in Skagit County are NOT returned for recycling.

7) By the year 2050, when I am 40 years old, there will be more plastic in the ocean than fish by weight. This is OUR future, and we need your help to make this change! 

The mayor and councilmen (all men, btw, just btw) looked pretty reserved, but I suppose they have to play their cards close to their chests. Earlier in that week, we realized that Buck was under the impression that a law could be written and codified right then and there, and victory could be theirs (!). Thank goodness we got that ironed out ahead of time. We'll clearly need to do some follow-up to ensure the powers-that-be (all men, btw) continue to consider this matter. 

We took Buck and his friend Morgan to frozen yogurt afterwards because sugar is fun! They were so proud of themselves, which was really sweet (pun). I told them that they are only 8 years old but they have already done public speaking! Buck has really glommed onto that factoid. He shared it with his cousins as soon as he could. 

That night, as we were tucking Buck into bed, and reflecting on the bigness of the day, Buck started to get choked up. Realizing that there had been a pretty high high (and sugar) that evening, so a low was perhaps to be expected, I gently inquired as to his mood. This is what he said: 

"I am worried for our future."  

Dammmmmittttttt.  Wes and I stumbled around for some words of encouragement; we did a mediocre job of responding. I put something together about being stewards of the environment, and that he was doing all the right things to save our oceans, and that it's hard to consider the scary things when we're tired so he should wait til the morning. Ugh. 

So, there you go people. Our kids are crying into their pillows because of the 8.8 million tons of plastic that are ending up in our oceans every year. Super real.