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Guilford’s Responsibility

The average working life of a plastic bag is 12 minutes, yet it remains in the environment for at least 450 years. Bring Your Own (BYO) Guilford is a local group that is working to decrease plastic pollution in Guilford by advocating for a town-wide ban on single-use plastic checkout bags.

In May 2018, a whale died on the coast of Thailand with more than 17 pounds of plastic in its stomach, including 80 plastic shopping bags. This was just one of the 100,000 marine animals killed by plastic pollution each year. At the current rate, plastic will outweigh fish in our oceans by 2050. The harm does not end with animals. Once in the sea, plastic breaks down into microscopic pieces called microplastics. Eaten by fish and other animals, microplastics eventually end up on our dinner tables.

This global crisis has reached our town. The Long Island Sound was made a National Estuary by Congress, meaning it’s a productive ecosystem of national and worldwide significance, yet Guilford’s beautiful shores are being tarnished by plastic bags. You can see for yourself by taking a walk through one of our beaches or nature preserves. It is Guilford’s responsibility to protect our wildlife, waters, and reputation as a picturesque shoreline town.

However, this problem is solvable. The ordinance proposed by BYO Guilford is simply to ban the use of single-use checkout bags. National plastic bag legislation has already been passed in places as far as China, Kenya, and the European Union. In the U.S., statewide bans have taken effect in California and Hawaii, and local legislation has been passed in hundreds of towns and cities including Connecticut’s Westport and Greenwich. To learn more and get involved, readers may visit our website www.byoguilford.org or email us at byoguilford@gmail.com.

Molly Babbin

Guilford