Newtown Township on April 13 joined a growing number of municipalities nationwide in urging its business community and residents to consider alternatives to single-use plastics.
At the recommendation of its Environmental Advisory Council, the board of supervisors unanimously passed a resolution encouraging a voluntary reduction of single-use plastics throughout the township.
Single-use plastics, or disposable plastics, are used one time before they are thrown away – many times in a matter of seconds or minutes. They include things like plastic grocery-type bags; plastic straws, stirrers, utensils, and plates; polystyrene (styrofoam) cups and containers; and bottled beverages in single-serve plastic containers (one liter or less).
“Many do not realized the connection between the tremendous amount of plastics we use every day and the detrimental environmental impact it causes,” Elaine McCarron, the co-chair of the EAC told the supervisors as she laid out the reasoning for the resolution.
“They have no idea that those plastic bags and throwaway plastics take 400 to 1,000 years to break down. They go into our landfills. They go into our waterways. They leach into our oceans. They leave toxic residues for many generations to come.
“And It is in our best interest, I hope, to protect our environment, the air we breathe, the food we eat, our marine life and pass a resolution to reduce single-use plastic,” she said.
From www.patch.com - April 19, 2022
The committee hopes the resolution will incentivize Newtown restaurants and businesses to replace carry-out bags, straws, cutlery, and polystyrene foam food containers with biodegradable or compostable alternatives.
The resolution further "encourages the Newtown Township Environmental Advisory Council and other volunteers to educate and inform Township businesses, residents and visitors about the need for voluntary single-use plastic reduction."
"This is the first of many steps to try to make Newtown Township more environmentally friendly for future generations," supervisor Elen Snyder told Patch. "Renewable energy sources for our township are the next thing that our Environmental Advisory Committee and I would like to set our sights on along with the preservation of open space."
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