They conned us again and this time might be the worst.
First, they told us cigarettes were safe and even healthy, all the time knowing they were killing people. With grassroots efforts, we quashed that.
Then, they ignored the fact that thousands of people were dying from drunk driving. They ignored it until Mothers Against Drunk Driving launched a nationwide effort to solve that problem by getting more enforcement and stricter laws.
Now they have covered up the incredible harm plastics are doing to the Earth, acting like recycling will solve the problem. NO IT WON’T and they know it.
Reporter Susanne Rust kept a record of all the plastics she used in a week and called it “soul crushing.” By 2050, she says, there will be more plastic by weight in the ocean than fish.
“Plastic is everywhere. It’s in our bodies: our lung tissue, our blood and in the dark, tarry first defecation of newborns. It’s been discovered in the deepest recesses of the ocean and in the snow of pristine alpine peaks and meadows. It’s in the wind, in the dust, in the air we breathe and in our drinking water and food.”
And the companies that sell it know it is killing us. Whenever local communities try to regulate plastics, the industry sends finely-dressed lobbyists to tell politicians not to worry because it’s being recycled.
It’s not. At best 5 percent of the 50 million plastic tons produced a year get recycled.
We are being conned and this time it can kill us all.
No one sees more plastic than parents. Toys, lunch packaging, food packing…it’s inescapable. Or is it? What are you doing to stop the poison? What can you suggest we do?
One thing would be to heavily tax plastic manufacturers and find ways to return to safer products of glass, metal or hemp. But government, it seems, is doing little to nothing. (Is it lobbyists or payoffs?) Yes, plastic is affordable or convenient, but is it worth destroying the environment and our health?
Send us your thoughts to [email protected] and we’ll print them.
On a more positive note: We have a new column this month with the Superintendent of Schools, Faris Sabbah, answering your questions. Send them in and we’ll get you answers from one of the top educators in the country.
Next month we are working on an important story surveying teachers about how students have changed over the last decade and what is right and wrong about education. Your input is really welcome.
Thanks for reading!
Brad Kava,
Editor and Publisher
