Boston to Ban Plastic Bags!

Boston, Massachusetts has just become the latest city in the U.S. to ban plastic bags in an effort to curb plastic pollution! The decision was announced by Mayor Marty Walsh, who signed a city-wide ordinance in the matter. The ban will go into effect next fall.

The plastic bag ban was signed after the City Council unanimously approved it in November, Walsh told Boston 25 News. The Mayor stated that he was in Support of the ban because of the environmental benefits it will bring.

After the ban comes into effect, shoppers will be encouraged to carry reusable bags or pay a small fee for compostable plastic bags or paper bags.

While announcing the introduction of the ban, Walsh mentioned that he was concerned about the impact the new legislation will have on the poor, who will have to pay the fees to get bags at the stores. Those additional costs, however, can be avoided by carrying reusable bags instead of buying new ones during each trip to the store.

A plastic bag ban might seem like a small measure but given the horrifying state of plastic in our oceans, it is just what the world needs. Every year, we dump around 8.8 million tons of plastic into the oceans. Once in the water, it goes on to threaten and kill marine wildlife, accumulates into patches of trash the size of actual islands, and can travel as far as the Arctic Ocean. A devastating 700 different marine species are threatened with extinction thanks to plastic in the oceans.

The good news is we don’t have to wait for our municipality to instate a ban to take action, we can all work towards reducing the amount of plastic we use on a daily basis. To learn more about how you can help the planet by using less plastic, check out One Green Planet’s #CrushPlastic campaign!

Image source: polandeze/Flickr