Port Hope Council received a special delegation from Beatrice Strong Public School
Two students representing their class presented to Port Hope council last week on the harmful effects of single use plastics.
Oliver Harwood and Abbigael Spencer are students of teacher Paige Harris.
Oliver and Abbigael provided council an overview on the effects of single use plastics on our environment at last weeks council, noting the effects on wildlife and the environment in general.
Harris said it all stemmed from clean up work they did on Earth Day.
The students reported that many single use plastics take between 100 to 200 hundred years to break down, and their creation contributes to carbon dioxide emissions. Some items like Styrofoam never break down.
Their teacher, Paige said the class collected over 60 pounds of waste on earth day, a large part of it was plastic.
Following their presentation, Councillor Clarie Holloway Wadhwani put forth a motion to have the Environmental Advisory Committee look into a bylaw regarding single use plastics.
It was passed unanimously.
Currently, Canada recycles less than 10 percent of plastics – the rest ends up in landfills where they take literally centuries to break down.
Written by Joseph Goden
