Editor,

It’s the time of the year again: Fourth of July is close and so are the fireworks.

For many it means a visit their veterinarian in order to get calming meds for their pets. Others worry about the noise and the dangers imminent with releasing fireworks on properties in extra dry conditions.

What worries me the most is the amount of plastic that will end up in our waters again. Although there are numerous cities, especially in King and Snohomish counties, where fireworks are banned, Whidbey Island still allows them. Regulations are in place (2018) stating that fireworks in Langley and Coupeville can only be released on private property. I am glad to have read this, but it seems not to be enforceable.

For example our street: Every year we witness the same. Numerous visitors that occupy many beachfront vacation homes with their family and friends arrive with tons of fireworks. The record number of parked cars in front of one home was 15 one year. Last year people were even encouraged to go to the beaches to release fireworks. Beaches are definitely the wrong place for this type of celebration. Our waters are stressed worldwide and Puget Sound is not an exception.

Researchers at the UW found plastic pollution in every water sample taken from Puget Sound. One can infer that almost every creature in and at the sea contains some form of plastics or microplastics. Microplastics were found in fish, shellfish and other sea life. As someone who regularly walks at a beach and who collects plastics out of Penn Cove (it doesn’t take long to fill a bag….) I have a hard time believing that the sea creatures around here are free of microplastics. We are the end consumers, meaning we are not excluded from ingesting microplastics.

But besides this fact let’s not forget that plastics are just not going away. Once in our environment they are there for centuries causing damage. Millions of tons of plastics end up in our oceans every year. Imagine this amount. As an island community we should not invite more plastics to be released into our waters and this is what will happen days before and after July 4th.

We should proudly protect Puget Sound and celebrate Independence Day knowing we make a difference. It’s not just the noise and the dangers connected to fireworks that are worrisome and make many of us nervous. It is the huge amount of plastics that will purposefully be released into the waters. Skeptics should walk the beaches after the fireworks. Proof will be there with each low tide.

Maybe it’s time to follow the examples of counties in our area that are protecting their beaches including Puget Sound.

Christina Bromme

Coupeville