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Rise Above Plastics

TAKE ACTION

SUPPORT THE OCEANSIDE PLASTICS ORDINANCE

This Wednesday, August 23, the Oceanside City Council will vote on a plastic pollution reduction ordinance to protect our ocean and beaches. If passed, the City will ban polystyrene foam (aka styrofoam) and expand the state single-use plastic bag ban to include ALL BUSINESSES. This effort in North County's largest city has been many years in the making, and similar efforts have failed in the past. Therefore, your voice is needed to ensure this victory for our ocean, beaches and communities. Please read on for instructions on how to submit a comment. For some background on this effort, check out our recent blog post. 

SUBMIT A WRITTEN COMMENT

(You can also email cityclerk@oceansideca.org)

Meeting Date: 8/23/23

Agenda #: 36

Subject: In support of the Marine Debris Reduction Ordinance (or something similar)

Position: In Favor

Comments: you can be as brief or as detailed as you want, just make sure you ask that they vote YES on the plastics ordinance! 

(Additional suggested talking points below)

Suggested Talking Points

Here are some additional talking points to consider for your comment form. Be sure to mention if you live in Oceanside or North County. Any personal experiences with seeing foam or bag pollution would also be great as well.

• Polystyrene foam is the #2 most commonly found item at Surfrider beach cleanups in San Diego County. Surfrider volunteers removed 53,327 pieces of foam debris in 2018 and 2019, a number that accounts for only a tiny fraction of the total amount of foam debris that ends up on our beaches and in our ocean each year. Volunteers have already removed over 25,000 pieces of foam so far in 2023. 
• in 2019, polystyrene foam accounted for 14.4% of the total items found at over 100 local Surfrider beach cleanups 
• Because it is so lightweight and brittle, foam foodware easily breaks down into hundreds, even thousands of smaller pieces. It is almost impossible to identify, separate, and remove polystyrene foam debris from beach sand once this happens.
• Like all plastics, polystyrene foam is made from oil and toxic chemicals and does not biodegrade in the natural environment. Each piece of foam debris in our environment is akin to a mini oil spill.  
• Foam is effectively non-recyclable due to frequent contamination, breakdown, and negative value to recyclers. Foam foodware is not accepted in Oceanside's curbside recycling.
• The City's 2020 Zero Waste Plan Update recommends that "the City adopt policies to mitigate the impact of single-use plastic and polystyrene as litter in order to protect the marine environment."
• Polystyrene contains styrene, a known animal carcinogen that was found “reasonably anticipated to be a human carcinogen,” in a congressionally mandated, science-based, public health document prepared by the National Toxicology Program. The International Agency for Research on Cancer also supported this claim, stating that polystyrene is “probably carcinogenic to humans.” 
• Neighboring Vista, San Marcos, and Carlsbad have all addressed polystyrene foam via an ordinance. So have Encinitas, Solana Beach, Del Mar, San Diego, and Imperial Beach. Let's join our neighbors and take action to protect our ocean, beaches and communities. 
• Single-use plastic bags are still rampant at retail stores and restaurants because they are not covered under state bag law. This is low hanging fruit for plastic reduction because Californians are already accustomed to bringing their bags to grocery stores. Customers who bring their own and a $.10 pass-thru fee for those who forget will offset any additional costs to businesses for recyclable paper or reusable bags. 
• Plastic bags are the top contaminant at local material recovery facilities, clogging recycling machinery and requiring periodic shutdowns of the entire system as often as every 2 hours. 

You can also email cityclerk@oceansideca.org

Instantaneous Option for the Super Busy 

This link should open your email app with a pre-written message. Feel free to edit as you see fit, please add if you live in Oceanside, North County, or San Diego County. 

ATTEND THE COUNCIL MEETING

We encourage members of the public to attend the City Council meeting and make an in-person comment, especially Oceanside residents. The City Council agenda can be found HERE. The meeting starts at 5pm, and our item (#36) is toward the end. Members of the public receive 3 minutes to speak, occasionally  2 minutes if there are many speakers. If you would like to speak, you must sign up at one of two iPad stations near the entrance to the council chambers (more info HERE). Please reply to this email if you have any questions!