Miss West Central 2023

Social Impact Initiative:
One Bottle, One Straw, One Bag at A Time
“There will be more plastic in our oceans than fish by the year 2050.”
Plastic: useful for minutes, harmful for decades.
Recently I got asked the question — “Why do you think it’s so hard for people to grasp the idea/habit of using reusable items?”.
My simple one-word answer was CONVENIENCE.
Many people see plastic usage as a:
👉🏼Simple grab of a plastic water bottle.
👉🏼Accepting a plastic cup, straw, or plastic cutlery in the drive-through.
👉🏼Packing up your groceries in a plastic bag.
Now what they don’t see or think about in these moments are:
👉🏼The 450 years it takes for a plastic water bottle to decompose.
👉🏼 18 billion pounds of plastic waste flows into the oceans every year from coastal regions.
👉🏼 The average time a plastic bag is used is 12 minutes. Then takes up 1,000 years to decompose.
It’s imperative to understand the generational and long-term impact these “convenient” items have on not only marine animals but our lives too.
Keep it simple, friend.
Start reducing your use of one-time-use plastics today. One bottle, one straw, one bag at a time.
