By Jean Luker, Glenn Environmental Committee
Plastic is everywhere. It is so much a part of our everyday lives that we can easily be oblivious to its effect on our world. But 350 million metric tons of plastic are produced globally each year. Plastic production contributes to greenhouse gas emissions. Plastic overwhelms our landfills and plastic waste chokes our waterways. Microplastic particles are hazardous to human health. Plastic-producing facilities harm low-income communities located in close proximity to them.
This January the Glenn Environmental Committee (GEC) decided to tackle the plastic pollution issue, first by educating ourselves, and then by advocating for change. We contacted Codi Norred, Executive Director of Georgia Interfaith Power and Light (GIPL) about our interest in undertaking this, and he offered assistance immediately. He and GIPL Program Associate Hannah Shultz attended our February GEC meeting. We discussed ways to further educate ourselves on plastic pollution and looked at efforts now underway in Georgia to promote legislation on plastic waste.
Hannah offered to present a webinar on Ending Plastic Pollution which would be sponsored by Glenn's Ventures in Faith Sunday School class and open to all. The webinar, held on April 25, was co-hosted by Hannah and Alex Muir, Advocacy Coordinator for 100 Miles, an environmental organization on the Georgia coast. This very informative session looked at the environmental and public health concerns surrounding plastics, especially single-use plastics. We learned that recycling is not the answer - statistics show that only 9% of plastics are actually recycled, and China no longer imports our recycling. Information was shared about state and local efforts to ban single-use plastics.
We followed up this event with a Plastics Roundtable held via Zoom on May 17. Joining Hannah and Alex were Rev. Jenny Phillips of the UMC Board of Global Ministries and Rev. Millie Kim, pastor of Second Avenue UMC in Rome, Georgia. Representatives from three other local United Methodist churches also joined us for this session. The group shared a number of ideas about what churches have done to counteract plastic pollution. Rev. Jenny suggested drawing up and presenting a resolution to the North Georgia Annual Conference similar to the "Plastic and Foam Free" resolution the Florida Conference adopted. Alex Muir spoke about the basic steps involved in doing effective advocacy. GIPL’s webinars can be found on their Facebook page or check out their website gipl.org.
Further activity is in the planning stage. Holding an advocacy training workshop with GIPL is a possibility, as well as developing a partnership with other interested churches. If you would like to join Glenn's effort to help end plastic pollution, contact the GEC Chair, Lynn Speno, at lyspen@gmail.com, or jeanluker@gmail.com.