SANTA CRUZ – Save Our Shores will host a rally in support of precedent-setting single-use plastic reforms on Tuesday at 10 a.m. on the steps of the Santa Cruz County building, 701 Ocean St.
The rally aims to raise awareness about the potentially catastrophic environmental and health impacts of single-use plastic and the escalating plastic pollution crisis.
Save Our Shores is urging the Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors to draft and pass groundbreaking single-use plastic reforms based on the recommendations their Public Works Department will present to the Board at 10:45 a.m. (The Plastic Presentation begins on page 225 of the August 6 agenda packet. Visit bit.ly/2GQ2c9z.)
“We’re hopeful that our Supervisors will build on our County’s history of pioneering environmental reforms to ‘Lead the way as we protect our Bay,’” said Save Our Shores Executive Director Katherine O’Dea.
A recent study found that plastic pollution in the Monterey Bay Sanctuary rivals the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. Only 9 percent of the plastic ever made has been recycled.
Previously recyclable plastic is now piling up in landfills across the U.S. due to new restrictions from China. The new policies are drastically restricting the country’s import of recyclable goods.
“By approving precedent-setting, single-use plastic reforms, Santa Cruz County can stand up to the profit-driven, “live like there’s no tomorrow” plastics industry,” said an SOS spokesperson, “and set a powerful example for the rest of California and other states.”
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Save Our Shores (SOS) is a Santa Cruz-based marine conservation nonprofit dedicated to caring for the California Central Coast through advocacy, awareness, and citizen action. Learn more about our Save Our Shores’ Plastic Pollution Campaign.
