To the editor:
I commend the mayor and others who have taken the initiative to clean our streets. I regularly carry a grabber and pick up litter on the beach during my walks. But let’s be honest: cleanups, while helpful, are like putting a Band-Aid on a deep wound.
Lynn needs to take bold steps toward waste reduction, not just cleanup. That includes banning plastic water bottles in municipal buildings, reinstating the plastic bag ban, eliminating plastic nip bottles, and requiring city-sponsored events to be zero-waste.
We also need citywide composting drop-off locations — a cost-effective way to divert food waste and reduce our reliance on incineration and landfilling.
Education is key, too. It’s not enough to tell students not to litter — we should be teaching real waste literacy: how to reduce, reuse, compost, and recycle effectively.
Most frustrating of all, the state offers a Sustainable Materials Recovery Program grant that could help fund many of these efforts. Yet Lynn has missed the deadline to apply multiple times, despite repeated reminders. This year, the deadline is June 2nd, so hopefully the mayor’s office will prioritize this application.
It’s time to move beyond beautification and litter campaigns. We need a Waste Reduction Committee that addresses the problem at its source. If we truly care about a cleaner, healthier Lynn, we must act with urgency and vision.
Eliot Evan Smith
Lynn
