LETTER: Kudos to Mat-Su Recycling Coalition

To the editor:

I would like to thank you for sharing stories about the Plastic Bag Committee, sponsored by the Mat-Su Recycling Coalition, and their efforts to educate our community and raise awareness about the problems associated with single-use, disposable plastic bags.

We are usually given plastic bags at no charge, making them convenient and easy to discard, but in reality their abundant use has many effects on our beautiful home, making them far from free to us. We use millions of these single-use bags in a year and annually only about 3% are recycled, so where are the bags really going? Lightweight plastic bags are hard to contain, even when disposed of properly, and can be easily carried away with a light wind. You do not have to go far to see plastic bags flying around, littering our cities, roadways, parks, and scenic views. Wildlife can be impaired or even die from ingesting the plastic bags that float around our windy little valley home, a consequence not immediately apparent to us as we are shopping at the store. We need to recognize our consumption habits and start thinking about how to stop the continued degradation created by these bags that impact our environment, our wildlife, and our homes.

The first step in addressing the issues that single-use, disposable plastic bags create is to begin to get people to realize these issues exist and to examine their own personal usage and consumption of these single-use bags. By sharing stories about the committee’s goals to raise awareness and educate the community, you are helping to get the word out. Let’s work together to spread the word even further and make a difference in turning it around.

— Brandy Graham

UAA Environmental Science Student