Boulder must ban single-use plastics

Boulder readers are concerned about the environment, as we should be. And plastic is very much a part of the unfolding disaster.

Our bodies and our food are full of microplastics. We recycle but virtually no plastic is actually recycled. National PIRG makes some important points on this. There’s no law stopping manufacturers from using the “chasing arrows” recycling symbol on non-recyclable materials.

As a result, a massive pile of products labeled as “recyclable” are never actually recycled at all. As little as 5% of plastic waste gets recycled in the United States.

It’s clear and critical that there be more transparency about what actually can be recycled — and what can’t.

We should all be fighting the most wasteful kinds of single-use plastic, like polystyrene foam and single-use bags. A third of Americans now live in a state with a robust ban on one or more types of single-use plastic. plastic producers should take responsibility for the waste their products become. Four states have now passed producer responsibility laws in the last three years. Major retailers need to help eliminate wasteful plastic from their shelves.

We can help. We can ask Amazon, Costco, Whole Foods, King Soopers etc. to cut unnecessary plastic out of their operations. And at least to stock alternatives like cardboard detergent, toothpaste in metal tubes, and so on. Let us ask the Camera to use compostable bags.

Dog owners who dispose of dog waste in Camera plastic bags use the environmentally worst disposal method. (And the person here in Boulder who, as I have often observed, throws a single poop out in a big white plastic trash bag should be ashamed.)

Myself a dog owner, I see an enormous amount of waste tossed into trail trash cans. It lasts there forever, unable to compost naturally. Best is to flush it but compostable bags are next best and easily acquired.

We can ask the City Council to do as actually progressive states have done and ban single-use plastics, especially in stores. New Jersey of all places bans them from all retail stores. Our current right-wing City Council may not be willing. But they ought to be. And we can sure vote for a council more concerned about the environment than this one seems to be.

— Marjorie Bross, Boulder

There are bigger issues, but sports have their place

I enjoyed reading the article about the heavyweight title bout scheduled for Oct. 28. To my knowledge, it’s the first boxing article I’ve seen in the Camera for four years. The fight might turn out to be similar to the Mayweather-McGregor bout, when Mayweather won by TKO, McGregor not being accustomed to 12 three-minute rounds.

That being said, my wife and I were thrilled to see the Nuggets win the NBA championship recently, a startling contrast to the ’78 Broncos, and the ’07 Rockies. We were crushed to see our Broncs creamed by Dallas (though they’ve won three Super Bowls since), and the Rockies’ only World Series appearance ended with a sweep by the Red Sox. Perhaps the third time was a charm!

Granted, being a sports fan has its ups and downs, and we like to identify with our local teams.

Sure, there are more important issues in the world, like the Ukraine, climate change, shootings everywhere, Trump and things too numerous to mention, but sports have their place.

— David S. Wood, Boulder