This letter was copied to The Chief for publication.
The Honourable Jim Prentice, Minister of the Environment and Minister responsible for Parks Canada, John Weston, MP - West Vancouver, Sunshine Coast, Sea to Sky,
On a recent visit to Long Beach (Pacific Rim National Park) I collected four large (reusable cloth) shopping bags full of plastic bags and bottles.
Collecting shells, driftwood and other natural objects is understandably prohibited in National Parks. Happily, salvaging plastic satisfied my beachcombing-collecting instinct, while reducing the plastic load on the beach and ultimately in the food web.
Most plastics photo-degrade into smaller and smaller pieces so smaller and smaller creatures eat it; ultimately people, too, eat this plastic - yuk.
Humans, bears, birds, turtles, and creepy crawlies haven't developed digestive systems that can process plastic - i.e. biodegrade it.
It would be cool if Parks Canada in Pacific Rim National Park would promote plastic salvaging as a public awareness exercise that's both useful and fun. I hope you can help.
Meg Fellowes
Squamish
