First It Was Policy-Makers; Now it’s Students

As the community meeting went ahead regarding the proposal about banning plastic bags in retail markets and stores, students waited in line to voice out their opinion on the matter as well in Santa Fe city. When the students addressed the councilors by reading whatever they’d written, the entire council stopped to listen.

Los Angeles taken as an example

Referring to the city’s waste issues, the children said it will not be easy to go green but banging of plastic bags is extremely essential for the environment. In clear tones, the school children asked the council to ban plastic bags in the city as they were suffocating the marine animals and creating lots of litter on the planet.

One amongst the twenty students referred to the city ofLos Angeles as an example to show how citizens voted to ban the usage of single-use plastics in that city. The student asked the Santa Fe council members to share similar kind of reforms and leadership, and in return promised to help in making the city a more eco-friendly place to live in.

The students were from Wood Gormley Elementary School and were part of the Go Green club. Students promised to begin eco-friendly works by going on a petition drive to support and encourage the prohibition of using plastic bags in retail stores, once the academic year began.

School children encourage usage of seed paper bags

As school children continue to take the initiative to make a change in the city, children from other schools sent in a letter to Santa Fe city council members earlier in the year. The letter urged the members to ban plastic bag usage and instead use seed paper totes or wholesale reusable bags. Signed by students of the schools, the letter suggested that people could use other eco-friendly materials such as cloth for packing and carrying purposes.

The letter continued to say that littering can be reduced and eventually stopped if plastic bags are banned. Also,Santa Fe can be held as an example for other cities and countries in the world to start banning plastic covers and bags.

Many of the retail stores and supermarkets in the city have already started prohibiting plastic bags. Instead, they are offering paper bags on credit to shoppers and are donating this money to charity. Some of the stores have even kept boxes to collect plastic bags that can be further recycled.

Source: http://www.santafenewmexican.com/Local%20News/081412plasticbags