Sedona AZ (March 30, 2015) – Communities across the world and even entire countries have taken action to address the proliferation and rising impacts of disposable packaging and plastic waste, especially in the form of thin-walled plastic shopping bags which have been called “the most ubiquitous consumer item in the world.”
Please join Keep Sedona Beautiful, Inc., at its Preserving the Wonder™ Speaker Series on Wednesday, April 8th at 5:30 pm at its historic Pushmataha Center on 360 Brewer Road, in collaboration with the city of Sedona for a public discussion on the use of disposable shopping bags in our community. The popular documentary film “Bag It”, which offers an entertaining and highly informative narrative of one man’s investigation into the role and impacts of plastics of all forms on our lives, will serve as the basis of our dialog.
It is said the average person today is never more than three feet away from something made of plastic. Do you know that the world currently produces about 300 million tons of plastic per year? And that the remotest locations on the planet, from the peaks of Everest to the depths of the oceans, are now documented to be impacted by plastic waste?
According to the EPA, only about nine percent of more than 30 million tons of plastic waste produced each year in the U.S. is recycled. The recycling rate for plastic bags is even worse, generally below five percent.
Can we justify making single-use items from materials that persist for centuries, while taking on the disposal burden of millions of tons of non-degrading waste per year? Is it okay to use consumer goods, on average for less than 14 minutes, before throwing them away as we do with shopping bags? Where is “away”, and are these issues the Sedona community should be addressing?
Please join City Councilor John Martinez and David Jakim, Staff Lead for the City of Sedona City-Wide Green Team to find out what the City is doing and share your feelings on this important topic.
The evening will include complimentary appetizers donated by El Rincon Restaurante Mexicano and refreshments provided by Keep Sedona Beautiful (KSB).
Keep Sedona Beautiful welcomes the community and visitors alike to its monthly Preserving the Wonder™ Speaker Series, which is held the second Wednesday of each month from September to June. KSB’s Speaker Series focuses on presenting a diversity of programs relevant to the unique environment of our region.
Keep Sedona Beautiful, Inc. is a nonprofit organization that, by acting through the stewardship of its members and volunteers, is committed to protecting and sustaining the unique scenic beauty and natural environment of the Greater Sedona Area. For more information about Keep Sedona Beautiful, please call 928.282.4938, or visit http://www.keepsedonabeautiful.org/.
