Sen. Jeff Merkley introduces the Break Free From Plastic Pollution Act

The Break Free From Plastic Pollution Act, being introduced tomorrow, will be followed by a local community clean-up event happening Sunday, March 28 at 12 p.m.

Newswatch 12's tyler ridgle spoke to the senator about his goals for this bill and that local woman who is trying to improve our community.

Vo: senator jeff merkley is introducing the break free from plastic pollution act as a result of plastic overwhelmingly polluting the oregon coast and getting into the food we eat -- causing us to consume about a credit card's worth of plastic each week according to a study by the world wildlife fund.

Sot: we've been led to believe that when we're done with the plastics, it all gets recycled and turned into something new.

But a far more accurate mantra when it comes to plastics would be the three bs, burned, buried, or born out to sea.

Vo: merkley says only about 8 percent of bottles thrown into blue recycling bins actually gets recycled --causing a majority of tossed out plastic to end up in the air that we breathe.

Sot: since we started mass producing plastics, more than 6 billion of that 8 billion tons has become plastic waste and right here in the united states 32 million tons are either disposed of or incinerated every year.

Vo: one local says she and her son pick up trash around the community and just about anywhere else that they go.

Sot: me and my son who's six constantly go out on our free time and pick up trash in our neighborhood and i have had a bunch of people stop and 'oh thank you so much for doing that we wish we knew how to be involved in something.'

Vo: and her passion to keep a clean environment is leading her to host a medford clean-up event this sunday.

Sot: what areas in medford do you guys plan to clean up?

Sot: so the areas we plan to clean up for this clean up we're doing the neighborhood surrounding manzanita street in medford.

Vo: strickland says everyone participating -- including some local businesses -- will be meeting at 12 pm in the parking lot of western states environmental.

She says she chose this location because it is an area heavily impacted by the homeless community leaving nearby and a lot of products she's using for the clean-up were donated by the organization -- solve.

Sot: i picked a whole neighborhood rather than a park or something that the city could clean up on their own because the neighborhood needed it and we can still social distance.

Vo: senator merkley says unless people begin to act on pollution issues -- marine life will continue to die and we will continue to ingest harmful hormone blocking chemicals.

Sot: if humans as a whole don't really understand and actually take a step back and realize they're imprint on our planet-- we're not going to have on for very much longer.

Vo: to learn more about the