A surfer catches a wave in Malibu, where the Surfrider Foundation was launched in 1984. (Photo: JAVS, via Shutterstock)A landmark bill designed to drastically reduce plastic pollution in California, SB54, was signed into law on June 30. It imposes the most stringent plastic reduction rules in the United States. It has to. California, like the world, is enduring a seemingly insurmountable plastic pollution crisis.
A tossed plastic bottle ends up in the ocean off Santa Monica. (Photo: Danila Delimont, via Shutterstock)California’s inability to meet its long-stated goal of cutting solid waste by 75 percent by 2020 prompted environmentalists to craft a ballot initiative aimed at November targeting single-use single-use plastic products – including a sharp limit on their production.
Plastic garbage on the beach, tossed there or brought in by the tide. (Photo: Larina Marina, via Shutterstock)OPINION: You’ve probably heard the phrase, “You are what you eat” a thousand times. It’s a motto usually used to encourage skipping the fries or chips for the recommended servings of veggies and fruits. But lately this phrase has a taken on an alarming new meaning. We are eating plastic.
Dan Jacobson, state director for Environment California. (Photo: Tim Foster)Dan Jacobson, Environment California’s state director, sits down with Capitol Weekly’s John Howard and Tim Foster to chat about the “straw law,” which would curb the proliferation of single-use plastic straws. Those ubiquitous little tubes damage the environment by ending up in the ocean and clogging waterways, among other things.
Plastic bags and other debris at a landfill await the bulldozer. (Photo: Huguette Roe)OPINION: You might already have noticed petition gatherers buzzing around Target and other stores, asking for your signature to undo the historic statewide plastic bag ban signed into law just weeks ago by California Gov. Jerry Brown. I urge you not to sign them. Out-of-state interlopers are pouring millions of dollars into the effort to undo what the Governor and Legislature have just accomplished to reduce the plastic bags littering our neighborhoods.