East Aurora Advertiser

ACES: Aim for a Plastic Free July



“We all make an impact on our planet; we can choose what kind of impact we make.” Jane Goodall, winner of the coveted 2021 Templeton Prize.

We Aurorans know that most one-use plastics are not being recycled – that they pollute our waters, kill wildlife, create the Pacific Ocean Garbage Patch and impact our health. We all consume a credit card size of microplastic through our food, water and air each week. Scary thought!

The fire on the boat off the coast of Sri Lanka carrying plastic bits used in the manufacture of plastic products has polluted another great swath of the ocean, killing fish, destroying livelihoods, tainting drinking water and flooding the shores with plastic. It could be our shores.

So, what kind of impact are we going to make?

Let’s start: Plastic Free July Eco Challenge! www.plasticfreejuly.org. Only 31 days! 

(but it will become a habit)

It’s FREE. Join 326 million people worldwide from 177 countries: 

Let’s not say it’s impossible until we give it a try. 

Take the challenge. Take the quiz. Get started. Make it fun.

Start small. Take one item we use all the time: a cup or a water bottle. 

Swap a reusable one for the throw-away item. Do it every day. There, we did it!

Let’s add on another plastic item we use, then swap out the plastic. 

There are so many suggestions on this website of how to be zero plastic waste. Check out the categories and the options. Let’s take a list of things we need, then go to any store and see how many items are available without plastic.

I didn’t know there are so many beauty products that are zero plastic. I have heard about a shampoo bar. These items are available, many in our local stores. Ask for them.

Encasing everything in plastic does not make them healthier or safer; it’s the other way around.

In addition, we must:

Contact our Federal Legislators urging them to cosponsor the BFFPPA, the Break Free From Plastic Pollution Act that includes a 10 cent returnable bottle bill in ALL states, requires Product Producers to Take Responsibility for Collecting and Recycling Waste, much like electronics and batteries are now, and has a moratorium on all new plastic-producing plants until a solution to plastic waste is found.

It is important that your Legislators hear from you. (Thank Senator Gillibrand for cosponsoring it.)

Tell makers of products we love, but that are encased in plastic:

“We LOVE your (product name), but will not buy it until you get rid of all the throw-away plastic.”

Corporations will begin to change when customers demand it.

Let’s all take the Plastic Free July Eco Challenge. www.plasticfreejuly.org.

We can do it!

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Aurorans for Climate and Environmental Sense (ACES) is a citizen group started in 2012 to support the East Aurora Village Climate Smart initiative. Its mission is to engage all residents of greater East Aurora to help East Aurora become a Climate Smart Community through education, planning and action. For more information, email jweide7170@aol.com.

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