Why should we ban single-use plastic bags in Portsmouth?

Posted 2/20/18

To the editor:

Plastic litter — plastic bags, straws, plastic bottles, to-go coffee lids — ends up as debris on land and in our waterways. You have probably seen sad images of …

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Why should we ban single-use plastic bags in Portsmouth?

Posted

To the editor:

Plastic litter — plastic bags, straws, plastic bottles, to-go coffee lids ends up as debris on land and in our waterways. You have probably seen sad images of marine animals entangled in plastic debris. There are countless reasons to curb our use of plastics: the threat to marine life, the pollution of landscapes, waterways, and sewer drains, and the consumption of non-renewable resources that goes into their production. 

However, there is a hidden problem with plastics use that is not often discussed, but it is a serious threat to our health and to the health of our local waterways: that threat is microplastics pollution.

Plastics slowly break down in sunlight and water, but they never break down completely. Once they reach about the size of a sand grain or smaller, they stop breaking down. These small, usually invisible, plastic pieces are called microplastics. Even if all of our plastic waste ended up recycled or in our landfills, which it doesn’t, plastics in the landfills do not go away. Instead, it degrades to microplastic and then runs off from landfills into our waterways.

In recent research, my colleagues and I have found that microplastics are not only here in Narragansett Bay, but they are even more concentrated here than in some patches of the open ocean. Microplastics are in the seawater, in the mud, and in the oysters and fish that we put on our dinner plates. We are eating our own plastic waste.

To make matters worse, microplastics are like sponges for toxic chemicals — mercury and other heavy metals, and industrial pollutants. If microplastics are in your food, you are likely unknowingly eating those toxins. Microplastics also harbor disease-causing bacteria. So if they’re in your food, they’re increasing your chances of getting infected.

Our current consumption of single-use plastic bags is a big part of the plastics pollution problem. Microplastics will continue to build up in our coastal food web if we don’t cut down on our plastic bag use.

Portsmouth, like the other surrounding communities on Aquidneck Island and throughout Rhode Island, should do the right thing to curb the plastics pollution problem. While plastic bags are not the only plastic waste, it’s the right place to start. 

We have feasible replacements — reusable shopping bags. The Portsmouth Town Council needs to join our neighboring towns and adopt the proposed plastic bag ban to show us that they are dedicated to the health of our coastal environment and the health of the people who live here.

Dr. Koty Sharp

Assistant professor of marine biology

Roger Williams University

opinions, letters, plastic bag ban, Portsmouth Town Council

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