This article was written by guest reporter, Mina Khan ’16.
Those of you who attend the Hewitt School are more than aware of the Ban the Bag Conference that took place on March 2nd. This conference, arranged by Ms. Wolf, the Ban the Bag board, and the Earth Committee, along with the help of the Green Schools Alliance.
The conference began with a preview of Bag It, a documentary about the dangers of plastic bags. This prepared the attendees to hear from our six experienced panelists: Jennie Romer, Ron Gonen, Stic Wilson, Eric Goldstein, Maite Quinn, and special guest, Micah Keller. Keller, the New York State assembly member, heard about the conference last minute and could not stop himself from coming to support the ban. Each panelist opened up with a brief presentation about his or her involvement with plastic bags. Jennie Romer is the founder and director of http://plasticbaglaws.org/ and played a key role in banning the plastic bag in San Francisco. Ron Gonen is the founder of Recyclebank and the deputy commissioner for recycling and sustainability. Stiv Wilson is the communications and policy director of the 5 Gyres institute. Eric Goldstein is the NYC environment director of the Natural Resources Defense Council, and Maite Quinn is an employee of Sims, a company that handles solid waste and recycling for NYC.
The panelists offered riveting and inspirational stories about the importance of banning the plastic bag. Zoe Stoller ’14 said, “It was so inspiring to hear the panelists’ stories and the actions they took in this effort. I was especially impressed to hear that both Wilson and Romer had quit their jobs in order to devote their time to pursuing their passion of helping the environment. It really brings this issue to life and stresses the importance of putting this ban into place.”
Stiv Wilson informed us about the current state of the gyres in the ocean: “Plastic is ubiquitous in the ocean, not just in the gyres. It is concentrated by the gyres. Per each square kilometer, you’re looking at at least 50 to 200 pounds of plastic times 816 billion.” Mr. Gonen then showed us a capsule, filled with tiny pieces of plastic. He told us that plastic does not biodegrade, but rather is broken up into small pieces by the sun. The fish mistake the plastic for food, causing their stomachs to be filled with plastic. The plastic not only causes these fish to die, but their predators as well, because they end up eating contaminated prey.
Moderators from numerous NYC schools came to ask the panelists valuable questions. When two Dalton students asked Ron Gonen how long he expected it would take before the ban was placed, he responded, “[Banning the plastic bag is a] two year campaign that begins today,” which resulted in cheers from the crowd.
At the end of the panelist discussion, Wilson said, “I promise you that if everybody in this room goes to a city council hearing, it will get passed. The power of youth to make change in the world is incredible.” The approximately 230 attendees of the conference took his advice, deciding to alert their city council member of the momentousness of this issue. After lunch, everybody separated into breakout groups and was given postcards to mail to their city council member, alerting them of the many New Yorkers in favor or banning plastic bags.
This conference ended up on several news channels, such as channel 4, 5 and 11, and several blogs and newspapers from the NY Metro area, deeming it to be a success. After reading this article, I encourage you to contact your council member and inform him or her of your stance on this issue.