A Simple Solution

Picture this: a clean ocean with bountiful marine life; a healthy body void of microplastics; a world that cares for the space it occupies.

Marine animals are ingesting plastic. Humans are ingesting plastic. We can clearly and devastatingly see the mass of debris in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. It holds 100,000 tons of plastic waste, or the weight of 740 Boeing 777 — 1.8 trillion pieces of plastic cloud this part of the sea.

Growing up in Santa Barbara I always wanted to protect our environment, but that didn’t prevent me from being born into the plastic age. I saw endless plastic bags at stores and believed it to be normal- convenient, even. Once I understood the reality of plastic pollution, however, I realized it takes only a simple habit of bringing your own bag to eliminate one of the most unnecessary pieces of plastic waste in your life.

In 2016, Californians voted to ban plastic bags at the checkout lane of grocery stores. But a loophole allows thicker plastic bags to occupy these stores now. This summer, an amendment to the law, which will truly ban these bags, is moving through the legislature.

Let’s not let a small benefit of convenience outweigh the huge negatives to environment and health. Let’s support the plastic bag ban.