This is a petition aimed at eliminating single-use-plastics by implementing new food and beverage policies in our communities.

Single-use plastics, while incredibly convenient and cost-saving to producers, threaten the sustainability of our planet and our very existence (*see below). Our supermarkets and beverage providers are a major source of these plastics in our communities.

We are demanding change:

1. All drinks/beverages should be served in reusable containers provided by the store or the purchaser. For take-out purchases rentable reusable containers should be available. RFID tags on purchaser-provided or store-rented containers can provide a cost saving on the drink. The sale of a drink in a single-use disposable cup should incur a fee equal to the price of the drink. 50%-90% of fees could be donated to commercial composting facilities, city/state plastics recycling plants and tree planting non-profit organizations.

2. Fruits & Vegetables should be sold without plastic or Styrofoam wrapping and without plastic stickers and other raw fresh products including meat and fish should use soybean waxed paper or other biodegradable alternatives.

3. Reusable rented containers should be made available for prepared food and prepared meals. RFID-tagged reusable rented containers (glass, metal or fully reusable plastic) should be made available at all prepared food stations. RFID confirmed re-use should lead to a deduction against the initial rental cost and thereafter a saving on the cost of the item.

4. Reusable bulk dispensers should deliver many liquid and dry products (e.g. cereals, bars) at refill stations, and rentable RFID-tagged containers available at all liquid produce, with the same reuse incentives as above. The sale of single use containers along with product should incur a fee equal to the price of the product. 50%-90% of fees could be donated to commercial composting facilities, city/state plastics recycling plants and tree planting non-profit organizations.

5. Pasteurized products (eg milk) should be available in rentable, returnable, washable glass containers

6. Reusable rentable, RFID-tagged shopping bags should be available. In order to change habits and rid ourselves of single-use shopping bags, a supply of cloth or other reusable bags should be available, for rent. Upon reuse an RFID chip can provide a refund on the shopping bill.

*Why Single-Use-Plastics are threatening our communities and environmental catastrophe:

Globally we are producing 300 million metric tons of plastic garbage each year – that’s the equivalent weight of all the 7 billion humans on this planet – each year!). Plastics are not biodegradable, meaning that even hundreds of years after plastic has been placed in the earth it will not have degraded. Our food and drink producers contribute substantially to this crisis by providing produce wrapped, covered or contained in plastics for which there is no means of disposal other than landfill or incineration.
 
Plastic waste is polluting both our water supplies and oceans, destroying fauna and flora, contributing to species extinction and threatening the marine food chain. 8 million metric tons of plastic waste is left to flow into our waterways making its way into our rivers and oceans each year. The production of micro-plastics from plastic waste obstructs digestive systems, traumatizes internal organs and releases hazardous chemicals including BPA, dioxins, benzenes, styrenes, neurotoxins and other toxic hydrocarbons all of which have been shown to be toxic to marine life. Such microplastics have found their way into our food chains and clean water supplies.
 
Less than 9% of plastic enters the recycling system and only a small fraction of that is actually recycled. The vast majority ends up in landfills or is incinerated. Landfills are oversubscribed and continue to contribute to pollution by leaching of toxins, and the blowing of plastics from their surface into the environment.  More than 25% of all plastic is incinerated. Incineration plants leach toxins into our soils, waterways, environments from the ash and spew gaseous toxins (e.g. dioxins, furans, phthalates, BCPs, complex hydrocarbons) NOx, SO2CO and CO2 into our atmosphere.