Thunderstorms this evening, then skies turning partly cloudy after midnight. Low 78F. Winds S at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 70%..

Thunderstorms this evening, then skies turning partly cloudy after midnight. Low 78F. Winds S at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 70%.

When Florida’s Third District Court of Appeal decided to bag Coral Gables’ idea of banning single-use plastic bags in its city, the nearly two-year sustainability and ecological protective effort didn’t exactly go to waste. 

City leaders instituted other measures instead, such as encouraging consumers and even rewarding businesses. They are now in the process of following in the University of Miami's footsteps, using a reverse-type of vending machine in which one deposits empty plastic bottles in exchange for discounts at participating businesses.

Now, some folks on Key Biscayne are hoping to revisit the plastic bag ban, parts of which are now in effect in nine states, starting with California's Proposition 67. That law passed in November of 2016 and prohibits plastic bags at grocery chains, pharmacies and other stores and restaurants. New Jersey was the latest to join the crusade on May 4, taking it a step further by also outlawing paper bags.

Ana Maria Mandojana, who had originally come to Key Biscayne in 1975 from Argentina, recently told Village Council members of a “civil initiative involving a growing number of people in the community.” That initiative has come about after hearing a science project lecture that showed how plastics not only harm the environment but also ourselves. 

“The marine life ingests the plastic and it’s ... eventually returned in our seafood and making us sick and developing known health damage,” said Mandojana, whose native country has banned plastic in cities such as Buenos Aires, Mar del Plata, Rosario and Ushuala since 2017 -- even those used to wrap fruits and vegetables to sell. 

Now, she said her group, which is currently being formed, will be calling out government agencies and contacting state senators to develop this as law, in the hope the Village could become a role model for other communities.

“We are aware it is not a simple matter,” she said. “Change doesn’t occur until there is a need or a strong motivation.”

Across America, 380 billion plastic bags (which were first introduced in 1979) and wraps are used every year, requiring some 12 million barrels of oil to create, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. The material from which the plastic bags are made, low-density polyethylene, is produced from crude oil or natural gas, reportedly making the petroleum-based plastics non-biodegradable.

More than 1 million birds die each year just in the U.S. after ingesting or becoming entangled in plastic debris, statistics show.

According to a recently released one-year Circularity Assessment Protocol (CAP) study from the Ocean Conservancy and the University of Georgia, 55% of the urban litter in Miami is recorded as plastic items. Consider that just in May of 2021, some 10,122 pounds of litter and debris were documented in Miami, particularly in the Miami River and Biscayne Bay.

The CAP study recommended Miami ban plastic bags and regulate packaging that is non-recyclable.

But, how is that possible?

Rumya Sundaram, a member of the Key Biscayne Community Foundation, where she is the Citizen Science program manager, said a plastic bag ban likely won’t happen in Florida -- for a while, at least.

“There's been a lot of movement on this for the last several years,” she said. “Smaller municipalities started putting (bans) in place and, at some point, they caught the attention of the state government, which instituted what's really a ban on plastic bans.

“Right now, it’s difficult (to have a plastic ban) because of the state law. Between sugar and plastic, the lobbyists create a lot of power in this state. It’s such a huge industry, that if plastics were ever to vanish, it'd be an enormous loss to the oil industry.”

Key Biscayne has passed three resolutions, the latest in 2019, supporting the idea of banning single-use plastics.

“But they can’t pass the ordinance,” said Sundaram, who noted that, instead, there’s a lot of outreach, especially to businesses, about the effects of single-use plastics.

She explained that because plastic is so cheap, a lot of businesses are not willing to change to more costlier, sustainable packaging.

Coral Gables city leaders discovered that starting a cultural change like this is for a good cause, but political pressure is another matter.

It started in 2016 with the banning of Styrofoam -- just like on Miami Beach, where regulations continue today through a “grandfather” clause. Coral Gables’ five city commissioners extended that rule to plastic bags after a second reading of an ordinance was approved on May 9, 2017. 

The idea was simple: replace plastic bags with reusable or recyclable alternatives, or bags that can be turned into compost in order to reduce litter and pollutants on streets, in parks and in waterways. 

“We received a lot of support within the community and from other (nearby) cities,” said Matt Anderson, who manages most of the environmental concerns, and sustainability and resiliency programs, within Coral Gables. 

About a year later, however, the Florida Retail Federation, a lobbying group that represents corporations such as Publix, Walmart, Target and CVS, sued to prevent the city from enforcing the ban -- using Florida’s preemption laws as its basis -- and ultimately won in the Third District Court of Appeal on Aug. 14, 2019. 

That court, in essence, overruled a Miami-Dade County Eleventh Circuit Court judge’s earlier decision to keep Coral Gables’ ban in place, citing preemption laws as unconstitutional. 

The Florida Supreme Court, in February of 2020, then failed to hear the matter after city leaders tried to appeal.

“Our residents were passionate about this and were happy when they were able to legislate (the ban on plastic bags),” Anderson said. “We started receiving phone calls asking why they (stores and restaurants) were switching back.”

<subhead>Other communities have tried, too 

Florida’s preemption laws prohibit cities and even bars, for example, from enacting laws that regulate everything from firearms and vacation rentals to plastic straws and plastic bags, and are often supported on behalf of lobbyists and wealthy interests, according to a report in the Miami New Times.

Several other reports indicate that opponents of the ban say plastic bags have a smaller climate impact than paper or cotton bags, that plastic bags are recyclable and can be reused around the home, and that bag bans add a financial burden for low-income families that would need to buy reusable bags. Also in question are what the best options are, if any, for replacing plastic bags.

Initiatives to ban plastic bags in Florida can be traced as far back to at least 2009, when students at Dr. Edward L. Whigham Elementary in Cutler Bay asked the Town Council to place restrictions on plastic bags, not knowing the state did not allow it. 

So the kids turned to then-Sen. Dwight Bullard, who tried in 2013 and 2014 to pass a bill, which would have set statewide standards for reusable carryout bags and recycled paper bags in stores, but those efforts fell short. He tried again in 2015, getting a push from then-Miami Beach State Rep. David Richardson, this time limiting the scope to specific coastal communities, but that effort also stalled. 

The community of Surfside also tried banning most single-use plastics in June of 2019, but two months later, the Federal Retail Federation was knocking on its door threatening a lawsuit. Gainesville, Palm Beach and St. Augustine Beach also have had to repeal their bans, just like in Coral Gables.

“Our City Commission has really tried to be on the forefront (of the sustainability initiatives),” Anderson said, pointing out Coral Gables officials hand out reusable bags made of plastic bottles with the city map on them at special events; they limit the use of plastic bags at permit-required events, such as the farmers’ market; and they certify local businesses with an emblem and plaque (the University of Miami has received the highest certification in the Green Business Certification Program). 

Coral Gables also has other water- and energy-saving initiatives in place, such as its fleet of electric vehicles -- one of the largest in the state -- part of 75 actions city leaders recommend.

“When we set our legislative priorities, we continue to revisit those and see if those (need to) change,” said Anderson, who also noted that just from special drive-thru collection events, 380,000 pounds of hazardous waste and electronics did not enter the landfill. 

“We work closely with Key Biscayne, Miami Beach and the county, and share proactive ideas,” Anderson said. “Very collaborative.”

On Key Biscayne, the Citizen Scientist Project (keyscience.org) was instituted in 2012 to protect critical natural resources on Key Biscayne and Virginia Key through a variety of ways, from reef restoration to pollution control. The project was formed by Nathan Moyer, Anne Rothe, Bob Molinari and Melissa M. White in 2012, is a joint venture between the Key Biscayne Community Foundation, the Village, the Knight Foundation and the University of Miami's Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science. 

In 2019, Free Plastic Inc., a separate nonprofit formed by Moyer and Amancio Paradela, was created to specifically reduce the environmental impact of plastic pollution through education, collaboration, new recycling techniques, direct action through beach cleanups – and from its volunteers, who serve as “plastic farmers.”

In 2021, the organization reclaimed 101.23 pounds of plastic, from which four public art pieces were produced, and recycled 68.86 pounds of plastic, turning some of that into epoxy tables, and trophies for the Key Challenge Citizen Scientist Project and Good Neighbor awards.

“A lot of it is about education,” Sundaram said.

Looking back at Coral Gables’ attempt to completely eliminate plastic bags, all of the courtroom drama wasn’t a lesson in futility after all.

“It was unfortunate,” Anderson said, “but we are definitely continuing to encourage our businesses, our residents and the community at-large to eliminate single-use plastics, so the initiative continues.” 

If you would like to join Ana Maria Mandojana’s task force to limit plastic use on Key Biscayne, please text (786) 302-4800.