Petition to ban marine styrofoam–please be counted!

Greetings, fellow paddlers!

I’m requesting your support on a federal petition to ban the use of expanded polystyrene (aka styrofoam) in Canadian waters. Over the past few years I’ve been involved in a number of ocean cleanup initiatives on Savary Island and in Desolation Sound, and I now know beyond a doubt that most of what we find on BC’s beaches by volume and by weight is expanded polystyrene, far more than the other single use plastics that have galvanized federal bans so far. This foam is routinely placed directly into the marine environment in the form of dock floatation, but it often escapes from its owners during our increasingly frequent storms. It breaks down even more rapidly than other plastics into tiny particles that are impossible to recover, adsorbs persistent organic pollutants in marine waters and can become increasingly toxic the longer it’s in the water. Like all marine plastics, it is readily mistaken for food by mammals, fish, and birds. Think of it as a continual solid oil spill.

I initiated the petition with the full support and help of the office of my MP, Rachel Blaney (Vancouver Island North-Powell River). For every 30 paper signatures MP Blaney will stand in the House of Commons to represent the issue. For every 500 signatures on the e-petition, she’ll do the same. The goal is to allow her to bring up the issue over and over again in Parliament. Please be counted as someone who wants action on this preventable waste and pollution!

Sign the e-petition:  Parliament of Canada Petition e-4066

If you are willing to print out a paper petition and collect signatures, contact me: catherine@fishingforplastic.com

If you’d like to go the next step, please feel free to contact your own MP to request they support MP Blaney when she raises the issue in the House of Commons.

Thank you in advance for being counted and for sharing the petition widely (to Canadians and Permanent Residents)!

Catherine Ostler

More info on the issue: https://www.bcstyropollution.org/
https://canada.surfrider.org/eps-pollution
https://oceanlegacy.ca/