Paper or Plastic?

It’s a debate going on around Dallas and the entire globe.

The Texas Campaign for the Environment (TCE) is taking steps to introduce legislation to prevent the use of plastic straws, bags, and other single-use items made from plastic. While the City of Dallas has enacted some laws to limit the usage of single-use plastic items, the TCE wants to keep the pressure on strengthening the rules to reduce waste and pollution.

While images of sea life living in an ocean filled with plastic waste have become common, preventing plastic waste starts at home and not just at the beach.

Studies indicate it takes a plastic straw up to 400 years to decompose. More than 8 million tons of plastic enter the oceans every year, with the U.S. alone using 500 million plastic straws.

The TCE in North Texas currently focuses on two missions: air pollution and climate change and plastic and food waste.

The group says areas like Dallas-Fort Worth “have an outsized impact on the creation of air pollution and greenhouse gases, and North Texans have long dealt with the health effects of bad air quality.”

Secondly, TCE wants to eliminate the use of plastic that fills area landfills. “The vast majority of plastics products end up in landfills and incinerators shortly after they are used. This creates tons of air and climate pollution in the process. Even worse, plastic waste is seeping into our environment in ever more harmful ways.”

Additionally, the group wants to address surplus food, stating that large amounts of the city’s trash are made up of unused food. The TCE says this food could be easily put to better use, such as feeding the hungry.