Boardwalk rules YOUR VIEWS
My husband and I feel fortunate to live in Virginia Beach and to be so near to the resort area. We like to go there to dine in the wonderful restaurants, shop and walk on the Boardwalk. However, for the past several years, walking on the Boardwalk has become more and more stressful and dangerous. We were walking there on a recent Friday afternoon and were almost run over as two men on motorized bikes came from behind us and nearly hit us.
It was not the first time that we have come close to being hit. We witnessed skateboarders, cyclists and family surreys on the Boardwalk as well. This makes it dangerous for families with strollers or older less ambulatory folks to safely walk on the Boardwalk. There is a bike path for this purpose. I have never seen a police officer caution or issue a citation for violating this rule. The police need to start enforcing this crucial safety regulation before someone is severely injured.
Jan Hartman, Virginia Beach
Cut plastic use
Thank you Rep. Elaine Luria for cosponsoring HR5845, the Break Free From Plastic Pollution Act of 2020. We stress recycling in this country, but one suspects most of the goods in the recycle bin go to landfills anyway. Outsourcing recycling to developing countries, with little or no oversight of their processes, has not been greatly successful. The problem lies not in the stars, but in our disposable lifestyles, with single-use plastics being ubiquitous and generally unnoticed by the masses. I hope this act goes forward without being gutted, and that we can present our great-grandchildren with oceans that hold more fish than plastic.
To expand, plastic breaks down into smaller and smaller pieces, which are eaten by fish. Big fish eat little fish, compounding the amount of plastic in their bodies. We eat fish. It is estimated that the average person now eats the equivalent of a credit card’s worth of plastic — each week. Plastic is not a natural food source, we don’t know the long-term problems our ingestion of so much of it will cause. But we do know that it kills those creatures living in the sea.
Each of us can make a step in saving our oceans (and landfills) from becoming plastic dumps. Next time we dine out, ask for metal silverware. Sip from the cup, don’t use a plastic straw. Carry a container for leftovers, rather than put them in Styrofoam. It may not seem like much, but every piece of plastic kept out of the ecosystem is a step closer to a healthy planet.
Cari Mansfield, Hampton