Plastic, plastic everywhere - from our street to the foods we eat Plastic products and packaging exploded into existence in the 1950s, and since then humans have deposited 100 million tons of plastic in the oceans. Because the smallest creatures have been mistaking microscopic pieces of plastic for food, it has entered the food chain. Its toxins accumulate in all forms of life. (To learn more Google “North Pacific Gyre.”) Plastic enters oceans from large rivers like the Mississippi that are fed by smaller rivers like the Ohio, whose plastic comes from streets like ours in Highland Park. To stop littering in our neighborhood would be very difficult. It would require 100% participation from every single person. I’m not concerned with how the trash gets on the street, as I have no control over the free will or bad habits of fellow humans. What I am concerned about is how long it lies in the sun breaking down into smaller and smaller pieces until it is washed away and carried to the ocean. If a single person does a daily trash pick up for just 15 minutes he or she can easily pick up all the plastic in front of 50 homes (two or three blocks). I figure 50 homes contain at least 100 people. So with less than 1% participation we could ensure that all plastic in the neighborhood of Highland Park is intercepted before it breaks down and is washed to the ocean. Each morning I pick up the trash on N. St Clair and Mellon streets from Stanton to Hampton (the 800, 900 and 1000 blocks). You could start with two or three blocks: the one you live on and maybe one either side of that. Send me an email and I’ll keep track of the blocks we are picking up on a daily basis. Within the community of Highland Park I believe this idea will be appealing to at least a few people who would like to help out the environment. Please help to prove me right and become a pioneer member of the 1 percent. Start with a 15-minute pick up today! Also, I like to make solar ovens. Believe it or not they actually work. If you would like a free solar oven to cook with as an alternative to using fossil fuels (only on sunny days) I’d be happy to give you one. Sam Hunt tenunder@hotmail.com