This is a petition to ban plastic straws and bags at UCSB to limit the plastic pollution that ends up in our oceans and kills hundreds of thousands of marine life every year. About 8 million tons of plastic enters our oceans every year and at this rate there will be more plastic pollution in our oceans than fish by the year 2050. The amount of plastic pollution in the ocean not only brings negative physical effects on marine life, we also see harmful chemical effects, economic effects and lastly, harmful effects on humans. Banning plastic straws and bags from UCSB is a small step that can easily improve these issues.

When marine animals come across these pollutants in their habitat they are almost always unable to tell the difference between food and plastic waste. This results in consumption and malnutrition, which then affects the entire food chain. Larger marine animals that feed off the smaller fish are also affected because the fish they are consuming have smaller bits of plastic in them. A plastic bag that kills an animal will decompose and the bag will then be released, which another animal can come across and fall victim. Marine life are not the only ones affected by this, so are we! Chemicals that enter animals that soon become our prey is a process called bioaccumulation. We may not even know that we too are consuming harmful waste through the food we are eating.

According to many sources, approximately 500 million plastic straws are used every day in America and a shocking 380 billion plastic bags are used every year. It is unnecessary to use plastic straws for beverage consumption, and there are many alternatives such as strawless lids, paper straws, silicon straws, stainless steal straws and no straw at all. This goes for plastic bags too. Plastic bags are so easily accessible through retail stores or corporations that use them with every purchase. We do not always need a bag to carry our items and if we do need one they can easily be replaced with paper bags, biodegradable bags and reusable bags. An easy way to implement this ban, while also maintaining satisfaction from users is to provide multiple options and provide incentives for not using harmful waste. Such incentives can be giving out coupons that can be used at the on campus bookstore since so many students, staff, parents, alumni, and prospect students shop their daily. The UCEN can also start selling stainless steel straws and reusable bags to encourage students and staff to use them while also drawing attention to the problem by creating more awareness.