Local nonprofit Dont Waste Durham and Duke Environmental Law and Policy Clinic discussed research on their respective topics. Proposal for a single-use bag feeA litter survey of Durham was conducted at a Wednesday event held by the Durham Bottling Co. In an effort to reduce disposable bag use, the proposal would impose a 10c fee on paper and plastic bags.
Crystal Dreisbach (founder and CEO of Dont Waste Durham) gave the opening speech of the talk, entitled The True Cost of Single Use Bags in Durham. Dreisbach presented the findings of research done with the Environmental Law and Policy Clinic over two years on disposable bags. A White paperAccording to Dont Waste Durhams website, single-use bags cause litter in streets and waterways, clog storm drains and take up limited landfill space, and can wreak havoc upon recycling infrastructure.
Dresibach pointed out that single-use bags are causing a rise in toxic substances in Durham. Jordan Lake is the main source of drinking water for South Durham, she said.
[Jordan Lake]Dreisbach noted that single-use filaments made from single-use bags are unrivaled. These plastic filaments are more expensive the longer we wait to do it.Dreisbach stated that single-use bags were linked to Environmental justiceand racial equity. She said that around 400 citiesThey have imposed regulations on single-use bags, and bag fees have been proven to be effective. Effective in reducing disposable bag usage.
Next, Isabel Bukovnik, a third year graduate student at the Nicholas School of the Environment discussed her work on the Environmental Law and Policy Clinics’ first-ever Durham litter study.
Bukovnik gave background information on the past work Dont Waste Durham has done with the clinic. In January 2019, Dont Waste Durham became a client. The partnership proposed Durham’s Environmental Affairs Board the bag fee ordinance in July 2019.
[The board was]They were very supportive of the fee. However, Bukovnik suggested that we examine the equity issues that could be present with single-use bags fees.Bukovnik then spoke about how Durham handles plastic waste. She stated that Durham produces 344,000 tons of plastic waste annually, of which 620 tons are plastic bags. Bukovnik says that this waste is disposed of in Sampson County. It disproportionately affects communities of color.
Bukovnik stated that nine out of ten of those people are people from color.
The clinic was developed in order to investigate these patterns of environmental injustice. Durham Litter Map projectThe first ever litter survey in Durham. The project sent volunteers to Durham and had them map Durham’s streets based upon litter density. Bukovnik said that the volunteers rated the streets using a scale of one to four. One was for no litter, while four meant that there was so much litter that it would need to be cleaned up. The numbers were then entered into an app which color-codes Durham streets based on their litter densities score.
The project is ongoing and has mapped 3,800 streets in Durham’s 5,000. This initial data shows a strong correlation between litter density and historically redlined areas.
The clinic has previously found that plastic is a large component of litter. Nancy Lauer, a staff scientist at the Environmental Law and Policy Clinic claims that up to 70% of the litter Dont Waste Durham and the clinic collected during cleanups is made up of plastics.
Our community has a different burden. Some areas have more litter than others. Bukovnik stated that litter is often associated with discriminatory housing practices. Litter and waste disposal are equity issues and should be treated accordingly.
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Ayra Charania, a Trinity sophomore, is the senior editor of The Chronicle’s final volume.
