Along the basement stairwell in my childhood home, there was a plastic bag filled with plastic bags that we used for transporting lunches, wet swimsuits, disposing of cat litter — the list went on. A few weeks ago, my mom handed me leftovers wrapped up in a plastic bag and I must’ve looked at her like it was contraband.
“I got an Etsy order filled with plastic bags as packing materials!” she said. “Haven’t seen that many in one place for a long time.”
In that same house, an entire corner of my adolescent bedroom was pink-hued, with a lingering scent of rubber and plastic. From waist-high houses and convertible cars to Velcro-fastening outfits and tiny shoes that my little brother tried to eat, I spent my allowance dollars in the towering Mattel aisles of Toys“R”Us.
From Barbies to bags, plastic wasn’t a bad word when I was a kid.
Thirty years later, I have three nieces and two nephews, and our family just found out two more (of the cutest babies ever, ahem) will be joining the ranks later this year. As CITY put this issue together, I thought a lot about the world these children are born into, and the problems their generation will have to solve in order to be OK.
The academic journal “Nature Medicine” published the results of a study in February 2025 that examined brain tissue samples from 10 deceased individuals. The article found that the average brain contained approximately 7 grams of microplastics (equivalent to the weight of a plastic spoon). Microplastics come from the breakdown and ingestion of larger plastic items, and it’s scary how many we encounter each day.
We can always make smarter choices when it comes to the environment, right? This issue isn’t trying to get preachy or paint a doom-and-gloom scenario, but point us toward a few (local) solutions for a better earth. For ourselves and for future generations. For my sixth and seventh niece or nephew.
Let’s take care of what we’ve been given.
Leah Stacy is the editor of CITY. She can be reached at leah@rochester-citynews.com.
This article appears in Dec 1-31, 2024.
