Plastics
https://www.plasticfreewnc.com/

The North Carolina Solid Waste Management Act gives local governments the authority to act & it mandates that local governments act because a pollutant harmful to both human health & the environment has been documented in our region.  Water sampling in rivers and streams throughout western North Carolina show plastics in every body of water they’ve tested, including in the French Broad.

Plastic pollution is a threat to the City of Asheville and Buncombe County's environment and to the health of our residents.

Urge the City of Asheville and Buncombe County to join the more than 400 local governments across the country that have already passed plastic reduction laws. Act now to reduce plastics pollution before it enters our environment.

Plastic bags, Styrofoam cups, and other single-use plastics litter our forests and trails and clog up our rivers and streams.

These plastics don’t biodegrade.  Instead, they break down into smaller and smaller pieces over hundreds or thousands of years. Over time, they become so small that they can travel by wind.

Aquatic animals consume these films, fibers, and fragments and then bio-accumulate up the food chain. Plastics are in the air we breathe, the water we drink, and the food we eat — we ingest approximately one credit card-worth of plastic every week.

Plastics and their additives leach into our food and environment & become harmful to human health. They are linked to higher rates of childhood asthma, and are potentially harmful to the reproductive and nervous systems.

The main ingredient in Styrofoam cups is classified as a “likely” or “probable” human carcinogen.

Take action in your community
https://www.plasticfreewnc.com/#action