My grandson and I love to go out and pick up trash. Most of it is plastic. We each have a grabber. It’s his favorite toy. People often stop and thank us. We sing this song.

Wake up, there’s plastic everywhere. There’s not enough people who really care.

When you go outside, you see plastic land. This is why plastic must be banned!

In the park we have plastic in trees. Next thing you know, we’ll have plastic leaves.

It is extremely difficult to live a plastic-free life. Plastic is in the air we breathe, the water we drink. It’s been found in blood, human hearts, placentas, waterways, marine life, even in dolphin breath. It’s no wonder. Most homes are packed with it. It seems it’s a necessity for most. 

Personally, I never trusted it. Something that can last forever? Sounded like a horror film to me. Convenient? Maybe. Safe? No. The long-term effects in our ecosystems and our bodies are catching up and they are dire. Cheap? No! Not if you consider the subsidies to the fossil fuel industry.

When I was a kid, as a special treat, we had potato chips delivered in cans to our door. No plastic bag needed. The empty can was picked up the next week and replaced by a full one. What a treat! The chips never lasted long enough for us to find out if they stayed fresh. 

Over the course of my lifetime, I’ve watched plastic replace metal, wood, paper, glass, natural fabrics, fibers and yes, the Charles Chips can. Landfills are now packed to the gills with this toxic product. Plastic bins replaced boxes and metal cans. Plastic bags replaced paper bags, frozen food boxes. The metal waste cans at my grade school were filled with wadded up waxed paper and paper sacks after lunch. Saranwrap and Ziplocs eventually replaced the paper waste, and the metal can was eventually replaced with a plastic one. Every candy, cookie and snack that’s consumed now is wrapped securely in plastic. 

What happened to the cute little boxes? Think Junior mints and movie candy. Ice cream was wrapped in paper or cardboard. Wooden, metal and paper toys have been replaced with plastic. Gifts from Grandma came in brown paper packaging, yup! Tied up with string. No bubble wrap. Plastic bottles have replaced water fountains. Our houses, floors, walls, furniture, blinds, were once made of wood, metal, glass or natural materials. Not so anymore. 

The worst plastics are the ones used only once. Municipalities try to sell these products we recycle, but there are few buyers. Only 6% gets recycled. Municipalities resort to incinerators or landfills that leach nasty chemicals from these products. Corporations not only want us to ignore the plastic packaging waste stream, they want us hooked on more and “better” plastic packaging and products. Decisions by producers of this packaging have created an environmental disaster, and they’ve gotten rich on it. 

YOU want to change that? The Beyond Plastics guru Judith Enck has created smart legislation in New York to put the onus on the producers, in order to address plastic waste at the source. The Plastic Reduction and Recycling Infrastructure Act (PRRIA) will force producers to invest profits in developing innovative, biodegradable packaging. 

The fracking industry and the American Chemical Council need us addicted to plastic, because they want to keep the price of frack gas high. They are lobbying your representatives to block this bill. 

Throngs rallied in Albany on January 28 to counter deep-pocketed industry lobbyists and support this bill. We need to follow that up with more pressure on our representatives; send letters or make calls to the people you voted into office. In the meantime, if the packaging from the products you’re buying can’t be burned safely or buried in your compost, don’t buy them, don’t use them, and if you have the guts, REFUSE them.

More information on plastics, the dangers they pose and what we can do about it can be found at www.damascuscitizensforsustainability.org.

Jane Cyphers is a co-founding member of Damascus Citizens for Sustainability.