South Dakota Senator Says Ground Plastic Good For Gardens

South Dakota bill SB 54 seeks to prevent towns from banning auxiliary containers such as plastic bags, straws, packaging, and bottles.

DRGNews.com is reporting that District 24 Senator Jeff Monroe from Pierre recently voted against the bill by explaining: “Every time I think about a plastic coffee can gettin' thrown in the river it doesn't bother me at all. Because it sinks to the bottom and its habitat for baitfish, it's habitat for crayfish is you like to eat those and I really don't have a problem with that.

In clay soil, I put pieces of plastic in my ground because it separates the clay out and makes roots able to grow a lot faster. And the plants actually grow better. It doesn't degrade as fast.”

According to the Watershed Institute, “Wildlife is harmed when plastic is tangled in a limb, neck or other body parts. Wildlife often mistakes plastic for food. Once the plastic is eaten, it cannot be digested and ends up harming the animal by lodging in the gut. Plastic bags also can suffocate animals.

Plastics also leech into the water, degrading the water quality with toxic compounds and end up harming human and animal health.

Discarded plastic bags from our throw-away society end up blocking storm drains and culverts, impeding the flow of water and worsening bank erosion.”