A recent letter about the ReWrap Act in the state Legislature convinced me to write my experiences of the amount of plastic that is engulfing our earth. I grew up in Grayland on the West Coast. The beaches were clean except for driftwood and occasional boat debris.
On a May Sunday I arrived at the parking lot in Long Beach which was completely full of cars for an Earth Day cleanup. At the end of the day the beach was almost completely clean. Overnight there was a high tide. Monday morning I was shocked to see the amount of debris that had washed up in one tidal cycle. I then volunteered to be a beach cleaner.
In 2018 I was in London when China announced it would no longer take plastic from any country. This caused an immediate furor as many people’s jobs were threatened. The United Kingdom almost immediately began a campaign to stop plastic use. Three years later in London there were not plastic straws. They were replaced with a sturdy paper straws. Also, grocery shopping in the U.K. is an eye-opener. Hardly anything is wrapped in plastic and people use their own bags and produce is not put in a plastic bag.
Each one of us needs to stop using plastic. Plastic manufactures have conned us into believing that recycling plastic is the answer. Recent statistics show that only 5 percent of plastic is recycled each year in the U.S. Please support the ReWrap Act do your part to save the Earth and humanity.
Joyce Lewis
Mukilteo
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
