To the Editor:
Recently, Mark Daniels, a lobbyist for an organization that represents the plastic bag industry, wrote a Letter to the Editor of the MV Times (Feb. 25, “VCS bag ban is poor policy”) that denounced a local plastic bag ban on Martha’s Vineyard. Daniels argued that using reusable bags, as opposed to single-use plastics, creates great health problems due to the dangerous pathogens they carry through food contamination. He also stated that plastic bag pollution is not an issue in Massachusetts, based on low percentages during environmental cleanup by local volunteers. His questioning of the validity and purpose of this ban is biased because of his position as a special-interest lobbyist for an organization that has a mission of promoting the continued use of plastic bags.
The Martha’s Vineyard plastic bag ban is not aimed at replacing plastic bags related to produce, meat, or deli foods. The overall aim of this ban is to create change in community practices whereby we, as a community, will practice the three R’s: reduce, reuse, recycle. Many of us are already using reusable bags, and seem to be quite healthy. Obviously, if we do not wash bags they will become vectors for pathogens; however, if we are thoughtful about cleanliness, there is no need to panic.
Falmouth adopted a plastic bag ban in early 2015, and Nantucket has banned single-use (less than 4 mil in thickness) plastic bags since 1990. Has this ban so greatly affected their commerce and tourism? The answer is no.
Martha’s Vineyard is a progressive community. We are home to local fisheries that are concerned with their impact, we grow our own shellfish, we have apiaries to promote local pollinators, and our schools have gardens that produce small percentages of their cafeteria food. We have solar panels on our roofs, drive electric cars that power up at grocery stores, and we have been working to save the plovers and terns for decades. We have multiple organizations that purchase land and create forever-wild areas. We have organizations that provide subsidized housing to young Islanders. Why shouldn’t we be known as progressive conservationists too?
Daniels states that plastic bags “comprise only 1.2 percent of the items collected by cleanup volunteers in Massachusetts”; however, the issue is not necessarily only about the local pollution of our shores. The “not in my backyard” approach doesn’t work for bags. Plastic bags don’t stay here. They get caught in the wind and are sent out to sea, like little flying plastic birds. If we are only considering our backyard as the shore, we might want to consider the Atlantic Ocean as our neighbor’s backyard, and work to keep that clean as well. Plastics and other physical pollutants that end up in the oceans all go to one place, the North Atlantic Gyre, a giant floating mass of our waste. A large quantity of thin plastics found in our environment come from the nearly 100 billion plastic bags that are thrown away by Americans yearly. Just because we don’t see our pollution doesn’t mean it isn’t there.
As a science teacher, one of the concepts that I teach my students is the impact that our waste has, and the students understand this concept. They understand that if they don’t create waste, it can’t be wasted. Some chemicals go into our environment and you can’t see them, but they are still there. Other pollutants, like plastics, are very visible at first, but eventually break into smaller versions of themselves but with the same chemical makeup. When they are small enough to be eaten by fish and microorganisms, they may eventually enter our bodies and build up. Many plastics are made of toxic chemicals, such as BPA (Bisphenol A), and have been found to be carcinogenic to humans. Students learn about the impact of plastics that are not biodegradable. In the environment, those chemicals don’t go away, so the best way to deal with them is to not create them in the first place.
Louis Hall
Vineyard Haven
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