|Greenville & Hockessin Community|
Plastic Free Delaware Helping the First State clean up its act
By Lisa Fieldman Contributing Writer
could be against that?’” Durham quickly realized the complexity of the project and started working with the state legf you knew that a little change in islature on the single-use plastics your day could reap a big reward issue. for the environment, would you The facts are real and they are be willing to try? Sometimes a frightening. small shift in habit can have a big Single-use plastics wreak havoc effect, and that slight difference has on our environment and our the potential to grow into someecosystems. Plastic finds its way thing much more significant. For into our municipal drain systems New Castle County Councilwoman causing flooding, littering our landDee Durham, her concern for the scape, tangling in power lines, and environment grew into a passion killing marine life and shorebirds. for creating considerable change Only about 10 percent of plasin Delaware. tics get correctly recycled, sending Years ago, Durham started a the remaining 90 percent into our Roots & Shoots chapter for her All photos courtesy environment or in the landfill. children and searched for a simDee Durham, founder of Plastic Free Delaware Recyclable plastic does not break ple environmental project for the down without the help of processgroup. She had recently read about people worldwide working to ban single-use plastic bags ing or composting. Plastic that cannot be recycled sits in because of their ecological impact. This appeared to be an a landfill, reducing to tiny pieces known as microplastics. Today, microplastics are found worldwide and are a easy project, and the Roots and Shoots group spent a day handing out reusable bags to shoppers. Their goal was to dire threat to our wildlife that unknowingly ingests them. persuade people to forgo the single-use plastic bags. It turns Humans, as well, are affected by microplastics. Studies out that it was not a done-in-a-day project. Over ten years have shown that the chemicals added to plastic can cause later, Durham is still working to improve the environment cancer, hormone imbalance, and reproductive problems. Working under the Delaware Community Foundation through her organization Plastic Free Delaware. “There wasn’t a lot of momentum yet in the U.S.,” said umbrella, Plastic Free Delaware set out to change peoples’ Durham of a plastic bag ban. “Naive me thought, ‘who thinking about waste. They inform through educational
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Greenville & Hockessin Life | Winter 2021 | www.ghlifemagazine.com
