July 16th, 2008

Eighteen-year-old Danny Loehr of Andover has been interested in politics for years. But "certainly Barack Obama and his campaign have inspired me to do more and to take action besides what I have been doing," Loehr said. If elected, Loehr hopes to focus on education-related issues. "As somebody in high school, I think that I can have an important voice."

In part, he said, his decision to run is rooted in timing. "Now that I can run (since turning 18) I feel a sort of obligation; I feel like I can do more and therefore I should do more," Loehr said. Loehr would be forced to juggle his senior year of high school - he attends Proctor Academy - with House committee hearings and legislative sessions.

By Daniel Loehr, Proctor Academy ’08

For a project in Advanced Placement Environmental Science, Danny had to promote an environmentally responsible decision to the local community. This is the essay he wrote.

We, as Americans, consume one hundred billion plastic shopping bags yearly. That’s about 330 per person. This abundant and almost addictive use of plastic shopping bags poses problems for our future, but the good news is that we, in Andover, can help make these problems of the past with a simple switch to cloth bags.

The life cycle of a plastic bag, from creation to disposal, creates economic, ecological, and social impacts. Oil, the non-renewable resource we pay more and more for each day, is primarily what plastic shopping bags are made of. The production of the world’s four to five trillion plastic shopping bags per year accounts for four percent of the world’s yearly oil production. Twelve million barrels of oil are used to make the plastic shopping bags that just the US consumes each year.

Also, the energy used to make 10 plastic shopping bags is equivalent to the energy needed to drive a car one mile. Evidently, vast amounts of our precious non-renewable resources are being used to support our habit of using the ever-convenient plastic shopping bag.

But wasted resources are not the only problem involved with the production of the plastic shopping bag. Producing just two bags releases 1.1 kilograms of atmospheric pollution. When the world consumes four to five trillion plastic bags a year, this problem is magnified significantly.

Atmospheric pollution leads to acid rain, which is a problem we face in Andover. Acid rain kills fish in lakes and ponds and makes trees more susceptible to disease. Bradley Lake, Eagle Pond, Elbow Pond, and Highland Lake most likely have been affected by acid rain, which is far from rare in New England.

Following the production of plastic bags, transportation is needed to deliver these bags across seas and from town to town. In this transportation process more fuel is used and more pollutants, such as sulfur, are released.

Finally, after all of the pollution emitted and the resources used, we hardly use these enchanting plastic shopping bags. Ninety-six percent of all plastic shopping bags are thrown directly in the trash after their first use.

But sadly, throwing the bags into the trash doesn’t make them disappear. Humans and wildlife suffer impacts from “disposed” plastic shopping bags. In disposing plastic bags, they can either be incinerated, dumped in a landfill, or simply be taken by the wind across our land and into our oceans.

Andover’s trash goes to an incinerator, which by burning the bags releases pollutants into the air. But fortunately, the incinerator that our trash is burned at claims to stop 97% to 100% of the pollutants from being released into the atmosphere.

If the bags aren’t incinerated, they can take up to 1,000 years to break down and in those years can cause major problems. Over one billion sea birds and mammals die each year from the ingestion of plastics. Humans face cancers and neurological problems in part because of plastic bags, which leach toxins into soil. The disposal of plastic bags clearly has harmful impacts on both humans and animals.

Plastic shopping bags, which we use so much, hurt us in many ways. The question is: Are the conveniences of these plastic shopping bags worth all of the problems that they cause? If not, you have an easy choice: cloth.

Cloth shopping bags are the obvious solution to the problems of plastic. First, they are made from renewable resources, such as cotton. They also are more durable than plastic bags and therefore will last a lot longer.

Using cloth bags all year would save approximately 330 plastic bags from being created, used, and disposed of. Cloth bags provide us with an easy solution to the vast problem of plastic bags.

The exciting part is that we, as consumers, can and need to make the change happen here in Andover.  Roxanne Smith, a spokeswoman for the US Environmental Protection Agency said, "Like most waste management decisions, this is one that needs to be made on a local level."

The choice is ours. We can make a change.