McCormick: Florida cities should be able to fight single-use plastic

OPINION

BY MIA MCCORMICK

“Mom, I found another one!”

I grimace. I wish we were hunting for missing socks, caterpillars, or even Easter eggs, but instead we’re pulling plastic bags out of the mangrove roots along a nearby shoreline. My 11-year-old son and a friend from school use trash grabbers to shove it in with the other plastic bags, bottles, foam take-out containers, and even shoes that we’ve picked up during this community cleanup. All of this makes my blood boil, but none more than the ubiquitous and unnecessary single-use plastic bags. Nothing that we use for just a few minutes should be allowed to pollute our waterways, woodlands, and parks for hundreds of years.

Plastic decomposes but never really disappears. Instead it becomes microplastics that scientists have found in the food we eat and even in our blood . Why is that so gross? Plastic is made from chemicals produced by gas, oil, and even coal. So in addition to making up the majority of the litter collected during state cleanups, it’s polluting our bodies too.

Twelve states and roughly 500 municipalities around the country are enjoying the benefits of plastic bag bans. A new report from the Environment Florida Research and Policy Center found that bans in just five locations have cut single-use plastic bag consumption by about 6 billion bags per year – or enough to circle the earth 42 times. If it was up to Florida residents and local governments, we would be on our way to eliminating plastic bags too. According to a 2021 survey from the Department of Environmental Protection, more than 90% of Florida residents and local governments believe regulations on single-use plastic are necessary. But state legislators refuse to give Florida residents the freedom to regulate containers like plastic bags. And now they’re doubling down . New proposed legislation HB 1641/ SB 1126 specifically identifies single-use plastic and polystyrene (Styrofoam) as containers that cannot be regulated. At least 19 municipalities including the city of Gainesville have gotten around the preemption by only banning these products on City properties. This new legislation would extend the preemption to include public lands, and the bill’s representative says it would be retroactive. So all of the current bans would become illegal.

Local government officials, and the voters who elect them, should have the freedom to make decisions about single-use plastic in their communities. In 2019, when the legislature tried to stop municipalities from banning plastic straws, Governor Ron DeSantis vetoed the bill, saying “the state should allow local communities to address this issue through the political process.” The ability to protect ourselves and our environment from these hazardous materials is more important than protecting the billion-dollar plastic industry.

In 2024, it’s clearer than ever that the supposed ‘convenience’ of single-use plastic bags is not worth the mountains of toxic waste they produce.

Mia McCormick is an Advocate for Environment Florida and the Environment Florida Research & Policy Center

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