Earlier this year, Southwind Group received a $10,000 Sierra Club Grassroots Network grant to buy reusable bags for disadvantaged Wichita residents.
We are planning fall events to give these bags away and we want more Southwind Group members (like you) to join us and share in the excitement!
Do you speak Spanish? We need a bilingual Sierra Club member who can translate the education handout that goes with the bags. We also want an interpreter for our North Wichita giveway.
This project furthers our overall goal of encouraging Wichita citizens, businesses and government leaders to support an ordinance prohibiting single-use plastic bags from commercial use throughout our community. Government and business have been slow to adopt such a ban despite a 2021 survey by the KU School of Medicine showing 72% public support for plastic bag restrictions. Lawrence has already adopted such an ordinance. If we can achieve this goal in Wichita, the largest city in Kansas, more communities are likely to follow.
Those plastic bags we see fluttering from trees and bouncing down our streets aren't just a litter issue. Wind and sunlight eventually shatter that trash into “microplastics” almost all of us now have in our bodies. Researchers tell us that these microplastics contain endocrine disrupters that are likely causing human illnesses, with children as the most susceptible.
Contact Lori at lawrencelorid@gmail.com to help.