Dear Editor,

I am a college student from Indiana but currently in school in Bennington, Vt., writing to express my concern around the plastic pollution crisis.

Every year worldwide, around 500 billion plastic bags are used, which is an incomprehensible number. Plastic bags’ biggest issue is the number of years it takes for them to decompose. The grocery plastic bags include toxic chemicals that are harmful to the environment and in addition to this, adding plastic bags to the landfill causes dangerous chemical emissions. Plastic bags are also dangerous to wildlife and pollute the natural beauty of a place; specifically, Indiana lakes are harmed by micro plastics caused by plastic bags, bottles, etc. This is a big problem that I have seen at a few lakes in the area where I live. The danger of micro plastics is that they can never disappear and will forever be found in streams, lakes, the air we breathe and in drinking water.

Plastic is often used as a way to be convenient, and the whole idea of the issue of single-use items is something that people don’t seem to be focused on. Instead, the idea of sustainability and focus on the long-term of our environment should be the focus, and Indiana as a state needs to focus on discouraging single-use plastics in grocery stores, etc.

Often lakes are even more severely polluted with plastic than some oceans, so this is a necessity to not only encourage the banning of single-use plastic bags but also clean and maintain surrounding areas to lakes, to avoid trash flowing into the beautiful lakes that Hoosiers have the fortunate opportunity to co-exist with. Lakes don’t only suffer from situations like algae blooms, gasoline run-off and increased temperatures, so the increase in single-use plastic bags into the lakes is not helping the quality of the environment.

The situation of plastic pollution is becoming more of a significant issue that needs aid and action. There are many small ways to help, and the first step is banning plastic bags from grocery stores in the state of Indiana. Many other states like Vermont have taken this step and there is the absence of plastic bags ending up in trees, rivers, etc. Having a cleaner landscape is helpful for both the people residing there and also for the health of the animals, plants and ecosystem.

People can make many differences in both small scales and governmental scales by limiting the usage of single-use plastic and the ban for plastic bags in grocery stores. A helpful idea is to inform organizations and have them raise awareness of plastic pollution. Something important for Indiana, for example, is putting educated people in high positions of the government and local area.

Eavan Poch
Winona Lake