Working to be plastic free
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The plastic problem
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Making a change:
With help from 10+ local businesses, Hendersonville is Working to be Plastic Free!
Look for this logo in the storefront windows of participating businesses! When you see this logo, you can proudly support the participating businesses taking meaningful steps toward protecting our community, wildlife, and watershed.
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Plastic:
It’s lightweight, inexpensive, durable, and useful. It’s everywhere, and that has become a major problem.
The United States generates the world’s largest amount of plastic waste per capita.
For many, the precautionary principle highlights the need to limit plastic waste, given its ability to infiltrate human and animal food chains.
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Waste:
About nine percent of plastics are actually recycled. According to National Geographic, landfills will contain approximately 12 billion metric tons of plastic by 2050.
Because it doesn’t biodegrade over time, plastic waste instead degrades into microplastic particles — tiny pieces of plastic less than five millimeters long.
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Microplastic:
Microplastics are found in much of our food and drinking water. They’re even in the air we breathe.
Microplastics remain in the environment, entering water sources with ease. Research shows these tiny plastic particles can cause harm to aquatic life, negatively impact biodiversity, and potentially lead to damaging environmental and human health impacts.
Get to know Curbie:
Have you ever wondered where your recycling goes? All recycled materials in both Henderson and Buncombe counties go to Curbie’s (Curbside Management Inc.) Material Recovery Facility located in Woodfin, NC. At the facility, materials are sorted, bailed, and sold to recycling markets — where they take on a new life after being made into newer versions of the same recyclable materials.
Hendersonville Mayor Barbara Volk poses with Hendersonville Environmental Sustainability Board Chair Mary Ellen Kustin. They are standing inside Hendersonville's City Hall as they both hold a Working to be Plastic Free sticker.
Hendersonville Mayor Barbara Volk attaches a Working to be Plastic Free sticker to a Hendersonville City Hall window.
Hendersonville Mayor Barbara Volk and Hendersonville Environmental Sustainability Board Chair Mary Ellen Kustin pose in front of the Working to Be Plastic Free sticker outside Hendersonville City Hall.