Repeal the Ban on Bans!
Michigan Legislature
- Plastic is driving demand for new oil extraction eating into the progress we're making on renewable energy
- Plastic production causes disastrous health impacts for communities living near refineries and manufacturing plants
- Even after they're produced plastics harm our rivers, lakes and oceans and the animals in them. And once they end up in the environment it's almost impossible to clean them up.
We need to dramatically reduce single-use plastics if we hope to meet our climate goals and protect our state's ecosystems.
The Snyder administration put in place a policy that undercuts any local action to curb the issue of single use plastic. And after almost a decade of continued plastic production and pollution of our rivers and lakes it's time to repeal PA389 and let michiganders take action on one of the defining issues of our time.
In other states, many communities have voted to require a small fee if they want a plastic bag or have disallowed plastic bags. Nationwide, over 200 counties have enacted ordinances either imposing a fee on plastic bags or banning them outright with tremendous success in curbing plastic pollution. And worldwide, at least 32 countries outlaw plastic bags and many more impose taxes for their use.
Why?
- “Plastic is now entering every level of the ocean food chain and is ending up in the sea food we eat.” (Greenpeace.org)
- “Michigan Water Stewardship programs estimates that roughly 80%of the litter on the Great Lakes Shore Line is plastic and nearly 22 million pounds of plastic debris enters the Great Lakes every year… A United States Geological Survey found that there are 112,000 particles of microplastics per square mile of Great Lakes water…research suggests that ingestion of microplastics may cause Cancer, affect development, and harm immunity in both humans and wildlife.” (Angegla Whitfield Calloway, Detroit City council Member, 4/21/23.)
- The process of turning fossil fuel into plastic “releases large amounts of toxic chemicals into the air, polluting surrounding communities. This pollution results in a slew of health problems including Cancer, cardiovascular and respiratory disease and childhood leukemia. The communities affected and poisoned are disproportionately those of Black, Indigenous, and people of color.” (Greenpeace.org)
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To:
Michigan Legislature
From:
[Your Name]
Dear Members of the Michigan Legislature,
We ask that you take action to repeal PA389. Repealing this broad and restrictive law will allow municipalities to take common-sense action on plastic pollution.
Single-use plastics, including plastic bags, cause harm all along their lifecycle.
Plastic is driving demand for new oil extraction eating into the progress we're making on renewable energy
Plastic production causes disastrous health impacts for communities living near refineries and manufacturing plants
Even after they're produced plastics harm our rivers, lakes and oceans and the animals in them. And once they end up in the environment it's almost impossible to clean them up.
We need to dramatically reduce single-use plastics if we hope to meet our climate goals and protect our state's ecosystems.
The Snyder administration put in place a policy that undercuts any local action to curb the issue of single use plastic. And after almost a decade of continued plastic production and pollution of our rivers and lakes it's time to repeal PA389 and let michiganders take action on one of the defining issues of our time.
In other states, many communities have voted to require a small fee if they want a plastic bag or have disallowed plastic bags. Nationwide, over 200 counties have enacted ordinances either imposing a fee on plastic bags or banning them outright with tremendous success in curbing plastic pollution. And worldwide, at least 32 countries outlaw plastic bags and many more impose taxes for their use.
Why?
“Plastic is now entering every level of the ocean food chain and is ending up in the sea food we eat.” (Greenpeace.org)
“Michigan Water Stewardship programs estimates that roughly 80%of the litter on the Great Lakes Shore Line is plastic and nearly 22 million pounds of plastic debris enters the Great Lakes every year… A United States Geological Survey found that there are 112,000 particles of microplastics per square mile of Great Lakes water…research suggests that ingestion of microplastics may cause Cancer, affect development, and harm immunity in both humans and wildlife.” (Angegla Whitfield Calloway, Detroit City council Member, 4/21/23.)
The process of turning fossil fuel into plastic “releases large amounts of toxic chemicals into the air, polluting surrounding communities. This pollution results in a slew of health problems including Cancer, cardiovascular and respiratory disease and childhood leukemia. The communities affected and poisoned are disproportionately those of Black, Indigenous, and people of color.” (Greenpeace.org)