The Break Free From Plastic Campus Pledge asks colleges to eliminate single use plastic from campus in the following action items:

1. Develop a Plastic-Free or Zero-Waste Task Force including students, staff, faculty from appropriate departments, and administration that develops a roadmap to a plastic free campus.
   
2. Elimination of all non-essential, non-compostable, single-use disposable plastics that have readily available alternatives.

3. Establish a procurement and/or purchasing policy which provides the framework for the long-term elimination of all non-essential, non-compostable, single-use disposable plastics - both provided by the institution and those provided by contracted food vendors.

4. Implementation of campus-wide systems that facilitates the proper collection and management of the non-disposable products from step 3

To learn more about the pledge, follow this link:

https://www.postlandfill.org/break-free-from-plastic/

By signing this petition, I am showing support for Bellevue College in its efforts to reduce single use plastics and ask the institution to commit to eliminating single use plastic through the steps outlined in The Break Free From Plastic Pledge.

Plastic water bottles, along with “more than 99% of plastics are produced from chemicals derived from oil, natural gas and coal” which produce a significant amount of greenhouse gas emissions (UN). In addition to the greenhouse gas emissions associated with plastic production, “only 9% of all plastic waste ever produced has been recycled. About 12% has been incinerated, while the rest — 79% — has accumulated in landfills, dumps or the natural environment” (UN).

“A staggering 8 million tonnes of plastic end up in the world’s oceans every year” carried from cities by major rivers (UN). It is estimated that there will be more plastic than fish, by weight, in the world’s oceans by 2050 if this trend continues (UN).

“Most plastic items never fully disappear; they just get smaller and smaller. Many of these tiny plastic particles are swallowed by farm animals or fish who mistake them for food, and thus can find their way onto our dinner plates. They’ve also been found in a majority of the world’s tap water” (UN). Micro-plastic debris in waterways and the world’s oceans cause bio-accumulation of carcinogenic toxins, including dioxins and PBT’s in the fatty tissue of fish, birds, and marine mammals (UN). This pollutes our food and our dwindling water supply and in the Pacific Northwest, puts whales, seals, sea turtles and salmon at risk.
 
To learn more, follow this link:

https://www.unenvironment.org/interactive/beat-plastic-pollution/