To the editor:

I have been a regular summer visitor to the Tupper Lake area for all of my 74 years. Now a full time resident of the upper Hudson Valley, the greater upstate New York region is my home year round. I learned through experience how industry can affect the environment when our lake became inhospitable to fish because of acid rain, and when, on more than one occasion, a balloon from Ohio blew its way into our woods. Plastic pollution presents an even graver risk.

Our state and the wildlife and humans in it are being contaminated by the toxic chemicals in plastics. Only around 6% of plastic is recycled globally, and much of the rest ends up in landfills, as well as leaching into soil, water and the bodies of all living things. According to a recent CNN report, more than a quarter of the 16,000 different chemicals used to make plastics are toxic, and only a quarter of these are regulated. It can be overwhelming to think about the damage to fish, waterbirds, turtles and ourselves.

But there is something to be done about it: A bill is making its way through the New York Legislature now which would reduce single use plastics in packaging by 50% over 12 years and move the financial burden created by recycling to producers: It is called the Packaging Reduction and Recycling Infrastructure Act. This bill goes further: It would also make 19 different toxic chemicals illegal to use in products for sale in New York state. There are enough co-sponsors to pass it: We just need Carl Heastie, the speaker of the Assembly, and Andrea Stewart-Cousins, the majority leader in the state Senate to bring it to the floor for a vote.

Earth Day is almost upon us: Wouldn’t it be a great way to celebrate?

Adelia Moore

New Lebanon