Sustainability forum to focus on single-use plastics

A plastic bag floats in Lake Erie near downtown Cleveland. Photo by Patrick McGannon

The Fairview Park Green Team is pleased to announce it will host Cuyahoga Councilwoman Sunny Simon and the Alliance for the Great Lakes’ Hyle Lowry in an upcoming sustainability forum on single-use plastic bags. These bags create unnecessary waste, pollution in our waterways and on land, deplete our natural resources, harm wildlife, and jeopardize human health and food supplies.

Sunny Simon has served on Cuyahoga County Council since 2011. As Chair of the Education, Environment and Sustainability Committee, Ms. Simon is working toward making the Cuyahoga County government a leader in promoting environmentally sustainable practices for the long-term growth of the region. During the forum, Councilwoman Simon will speak about how the imposition of a fee on single-use plastic and paper bags countywide will impact the environment, consumers and retail businesses.

Hyle Lowry currently serves as Ohio Outreach Coordinator for the Alliance for the Great Lakes. The Alliance’s mission is to conserve and restore the world's largest freshwater resource using policy, education, and local efforts, ensuring a healthy Great Lakes and clean water for generations of people and wildlife. Ms. Lowry will be speaking about protecting our Great Lakes from all types of plastic contaminants, including the recent ban on microbeads, and the effects they have on our health and that of our water and aquatic life.

The sustainability forum will be held Tuesday, Feb. 16, at the Fairview Park Senior Center, located at 20769 Lorain Road. The event is open to the public and will begin promptly at 7 p.m.