Prayer
For Courage to Do Justice
O Lord, open my eyes that I may see the needs of others.
Open my ears that I may hear their cries.
Open my heart that they need not be without succor.
Let me not be afraid to defend the weak because of the anger of the strong,
Nor afraid to defend the poor because of the anger of the rich.
Show me where love and, hope, and faith are needed,
And use me to bring them to those places.
And so open my eyes and ears that I may be able to do some work of peace for thee this coming day.
Knowledge
After last week’s YLBG, I hoped to give everyone a break about recycling plastic. I want plastic recycling to work. (And for some items, it still does.) I want an easy answer to the world’s plastic pollution problem. There are no easy answers, and it asks, “What route do we need to take for the best possible outcome?”
A new study just published by the Journal of Hazardous Material found that recycling plastic spews up to 75 billion nano-particles per cubic meter of wastewater – this is the count after water passes through the filters that are in place to filter out microplastics. In many recycling facilities, wastewater is drained into the municipal water system or released into local rivers. In effect, our attempts to solve the macroplastics problem through recycling likely exacerbate the microplastics crisis.
In addition, another recent study has found that the excitement we once had about the microbes that have evolved to eat plastic was misplaced. These microbes could be exacerbating the problem as well. While they eat MACRO-plastic, they excrete MICRO-plastic.
Sometimes I feel like we can’t win! So, what do we do? We must change the system! Plastic packaging must be eliminated wherever possible. Our addiction to plastic is not sustainable. How do we do this? ADVOCATE…
Action
The Break Free From Plastic Pollution Act 2023, Senate Bill 3217, and House Resolution 6053 was recently reintroduced by Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR) and Congressman Jared Huffman (D-CA).
This bill will help hold accountable those responsible for plastic pollution as well as protect communities (primarily communities of color) from toxic plastic manufacturing pollution.
What can we do about this bill? First, ADVOCATE! Please reach out to your senators and representatives. Calls and handwritten letters are great. If you can’t do that, send an email. The best is to ask for a constituent meeting. Ask your elected official to co-sponsor the bill. (For a summary of the legislation, click here.)
Next, ask your friends, family, and co-workers to contact their Congresspersons. And share these opportunities on any social media platform you have. Break Free from Plastic Pollution is on most platforms where you can share their message.
Keep the conversation going!