To the Journal editor:

This year’s Fresh Coast Film Festival in Marquette — Oct. 17-20 — was memorable.

Some films celebrated the beauty of the Great Lakes, the Upper Peninsula’s ski heritage and the legacy of our indigenous culture. Other films exposed the alarming effects from the warming of Lake Superior, the problem of sea lampreys, the more recent extinction of white fish caused by invasion of the quagga mussels in the lower Great Lakes and the portending extinction of white fish in Lake Superior.

But the film that alarmed us the most was “Ripples of Plastic” which documents the unseen impacts of plastic pollution in the Great Lakes and its tributaries, dramatically showing the vast extent of lake contamination by throw-away single-use plastic bags, bottles and containers.

These plastics, laden with harmful chemicals, break down into micro plastics and enter our food supply as they are consumed by small fish which are then consumed by edible larger fish. We found out that many cities and some states in the U.S. restrict or ban single-use plastics. But we were shocked to learn that in 2016, Michigan Public Act 389 was passed which prohibits local Michigan municipal governments from banning or restricting the use of single-use plastics.

This public act was a product of the 2016 Republican-controlled legislature and lobbying by plastics manufacturers and was signed into law by then Gov. Rick Snyder. But this is a public health issue that touches all Michigan citizens.