Strangling the world with plastic

As I walk through the shopping aisle at Super One, I cringe as I see a woman place a 24 pack of plastic water bottles in her cart.

Why is it that those of us in the Flathead Valley spend our precious money on bottled water? We are blessed with exceptional water from our kitchen taps and have access to filters if we have the need. Bottled water is a huge scam that has been sold to the American public. It is expensive and devastating to our planet.

According to Eco Watch, Americans throw away 35 billion plastic water bottles every year, and what’s worse it takes 500 to 1000 years for plastic to degrade. I am shocked to hear that the average American throws away approximately 185 pounds of plastic per year. Moreover, the production of plastic uses about 8 percent of the world’s oil production. Even more disturbing, plastic chemicals can be absorbed in our bodies with 93 percent of Americans age 6 or older testing positive for BPA (a dangerous plastic chemical).

In a recent article in the Washington Post, Chis Mooney writes, “ Seventy-nine tons of plastic debris,” including more than “1.8 trillion pieces, now occupy an area twice the size of Texas in the Pacific Ocean between California and Hawaii.”

This garbage patch is increasing exponentially. It is now “four to 16 times larger” than previously recorded and it is continuing to accumulate. One million sea birds and 100,000 marine mammals are killed annually from plastics in oceans. Plastic is strangling our planet.

For the last decade I have recycled plastic bottles and have returned plastic shopping bags back to grocery stores. Now all of this has changed. We can no longer recycle plastic in the Flathead Valley, because China stopped importing our plastic refuse. China until now has recycled about half of the world’s plastic products. But no more!

As of now we don’t have any alternative markets for plastic recycling. Our only recourse is to put plastic containers and bags into our landfills or better yet, curtail our own use of disposable plastic products.

It is difficult to escape the use of plastic. When shopping in the vegetable aisle at the grocery, I used those flimsy plastic bags available in produce sections to place my fresh vegetables in separate packages. On a major shopping experience, I used up to six or seven flimsy plastic bags before even getting out of the produce area. By the time I was at the check-out area, most of my grocery cart was filled with items clothed in plastic.

Fortunately, I was never temped to purchase bottled water or other drinks housed in plastic containers, yet my use of plastic was appalling. It would not be that difficult to require grocers to provide compostable plastic for all of our vegetables, and to quit asking customers “paper or plastic.”

Since the ban on plastic recycling I am more aware of reducing my own plastic imprint. I keep a half dozen cloth shopping bags in my car, and instead of those flimsy plastic bags for vegetables, I simply put fresh vegetables directly in my cloth bags. I won’t buy milk or juices in plastic containers any more and seek out paper- and cardboard-housed products that I can still recycle. I keep a refillable water bottle handy, and have my own coffee mug. I now keep my shopping bags handy for every store I enter. I always refuse to put any purchases in plastic bags offered by retailers.

Perhaps our government should play a bigger role in curtailing the use of plastic. Banning plastic water bottles and plastic shopping bags would be a logical first step. The European Union is proposing a tax on plastic bags and packaging.

This is a time when we can all work together to reduce our plastic imprints. I challenge each of you to figure out how you can become an even more responsible environmental citizen. Small changes in our behavior can end up becoming big changes for the health of our planet.

Needless to say I am opposed to a plastic bottling plant right here in our valley. Given the recent ruling by Judge Allison, the county commissioners must reconsider their decision as they ignored expert evidence and failed to consider all relevant public comments.

As responsible citizens we have the opportunity to stop the plastic invasion by voting yes on June 5 to expand the agricultural district to include the controversial bottling plant’s location. Let’s make democracy work against short-sighted individuals more interested in destroying a beautiful part of our valley for monetary greed.

Carol Santa is a resident of Marion.