Dear Editor:

Westport has done it, and Greenwich has done it.

They have banned single-use plastic bags. A trillion plastic shopping bags are used worldwide every year, and 100 billion in the United States alone — that’s almost one per American per day. The actual “working life” of a plastic bag is 15 minutes, yet they don’t biodegrade for an estimated 450 years to never (National Geographic).

We are all at serious risk from pollutants from plastic, for they contain toxic chemicals that are poisoning us and our marine life. If we keep using plastic bags as we do now, by the year 2050, it is estimated that there will be more plastic in the ocean than fish (Word Economic Forum Study, 2018).

We are accustomed to having our groceries packed up in single-use plastic bags — often to the extent of one or two items per bag! It is easy to get used to that which is familiar, and even to resist change. But when that which is familiar is doing so much damage to our earth, to ourselves, it is past time to make a very simple change and support a ban on single-use plastic bags in Newtown.

Is it really so difficult to bring reusable bags to the grocery store? It is not. In fact, it is essential — for ourselves, for our wildlife, for our children, and for our grandchildren.

Sincerely,

Susan Kassirer

6 Still Hill Road, Sandy Hook August 22, 2018