The La Mesa City Council will decide if they will take a stand against the plastic waste that causes unsightly litter in our communities and pollutes watersheds across the County.
On February 13th, Councilmembers will have the opportunity to direct staff to draft a single-use plastic reduction ordinance, and we need your support in order to ensure they move forward.
We are grateful to Councilmembers Shu and Dillard for placing single-use plastics on the agenda. Review the agenda HERE (see item #13). The discussion will include the following (which are similar to policies adopted by the City of Carlsbad and others):
- A phase out of single-use plastic foodware, including polystyrene foam (StyrofoamTM)
- An expansion of the California bag law to retail and restaurants (single-use plastic bags will not be allowed)
- A phase out of single-use beverage bottles for City facilities and City-sponsored events
- A ban on helium-filled balloon releases
Nine cities in San Diego County and over 130 cities across California have phased-out foam and other single-use plastics; we can make it happen in La Mesa too!
ENSURE YOUR VOICE IS HEARD!
Personalized emails are the most effective, but you are welcome to use one of the prewritten templates linked HERE.
Please modify as you see fit—and if you live in La Mesa, be sure to include that information in your message. If you choose to write your own comments, you can be as brief or as detailed as you would like, but please make sure to ask that they vote in favor of directing staff to draft an ordinance. Even simple statements are impactful (see below).
For the subject line: In favor of Agenda Item 13: Single-use Plastic Ordinance
Dear Mayor and City Council, I support directing staff to draft a single-use plastic reduction ordinance that will phase-out unnecessary single-use plastics in La Mesa.
Please copy and paste the following addresses and send to all (in the same email).
If possible, please submit comments by 6:00pm on Monday, February 12th.
If you plan to attend the meeting, directions for commenting in person or on Zoom are included in the agenda HERE.
Additional participation tips are linked HERE.
WHY SINGLE-USE PLASTIC ORDINANCES ARE NEEDED
- Single-use plastic products are the top items collected during neighborhood and beach cleanups.
- Plastic is everywhere; it has been found on remote mountain tops and in the deepest part of the ocean.
- SIngle-use plastics break up into harmful microplastics.
- Plastic debris can harm both land and sea animals through entanglement, ingestion, and habitat degradation,
- Plastic pollutes throughout its lifecycle from fossil-fuel extraction to manufacturing, transportation, disposal, and degradation.
- Microplastics and related chemicals present growing human health concerns.
PRIOR VICTORIES
We have had success in the inland North County cities of Vista and San Marcos, but to date, no non-coastal cities in southern San Diego County have taken action to protect the environment from unnecessary single-use plastics. La Mesa is poised to be the first and, when approved, the City will join the nine other municipalities across the county that have passed ordinances. In addition to Vista and San Marcos, Imperial Beach, San Diego, Del Mar, Solana Beach, Encinitas, Carlsbad, and Oceanside have all adopted ordinances with Oceanside being the most recent.
These victories bode well for the chance of success in La Mesa, but nothing is ever guaranteed. We have been disappointed by council decisions in other cities in the past, and all voices must be heard in order to ensure that the La Mesa Council directs staff to draft a comprehensive policy.
THE FUTURE IS IN OUR HANDS. LET'S MAKE SURE IT DOESN'T LOOK LIKE THIS:
