August is coming to an end on Martha’s Vineyard, the 20th August I can remember in my time living on this Island. It was during this month, before I leave to go back to college, that I began to take the time to reflect on how this home of ours has changed and how we have changed with it.

I’m an Island kid, a wash-ashore and a local with generational roots. Like most Island kids, I’ve been working during the summer season since it was legal for me to do so. I’ve been in the service industry for many years and have worked in the back of houses in restaurants since high school. Due to the variety of experiences I’ve had in these jobs, I feel grounded in my knowledge of this place. I know locals, I know summer residents, I know day trippers, I know Islanders. Over the years, an inevitable and intrinsic connection between myself and the people here has grown stronger, whether it be through work or growing up through the school system. Deep inside of me there is a loyalty to both the people and the nature of my home that is fundamental to who I have become.

The connection to nature that growing up here provides cannot be understated. I grew up with protected lands like Sepiessa and Short Cove in my backyard, with intact and glorious ecosystems and natural beauty shaping my childhood and, now, my young adulthood. There simply aren’t enough words to convey the significance of the influence of the natural beauty on myself and other children who were lucky enough to grow up here.

At college, in Washington, DC, my life is entirely different. While I love it there, it is nothing compared to the fierce devotion I feel to the people and land of my home. At school I find myself studying geography and environmental studies to understand how to best protect my homeland and other sacred spaces like it. And this year I was lucky enough to be able to join Vineyard Conservation Society as a summer intern and begin to give back to the place that has done so much for me.

A project I oversaw this summer was looking into the current status of the plastic bottle ban bylaw that has been in effect across all six towns since 2022, with some towns implementing the bylaw as early as 2019. The bylaw prohibits the sale and distribution of plastic bottles by Island businesses containing water and soft drinks less than 34 ounces. This ban was led by Plastic Free MV, a group of students including my little brother that was dedicated to eradicating single-use plastics here, beginning with plastic straws.

The vote to adopt this bylaw was nearly unanimous in all six towns and is clearly representative of the interests of the residents and lovers of this island. It is well known that single-use plastics have long been an issue, both on a local and global level. However, if one were to stroll into a shop in one of the down-Island towns, it is still likely that you would come across one of those pesky plastic water bottles that our community worked to eradicate. There are many businesses that have gone above and beyond to come up with alternative solutions to single-use plastics, and that have done their part to serve our community. But, at the same time, there are businesses that haven’t put in the work at all and some that aren’t aware of the bylaws.

So, with all of this in mind, my question to the community is: Why have our local elected officials not enforced these bylaws after two years of being voted into place?

While talking to both new and established business owners, it became glaringly apparent that our towns have distributed very little information or communication to enforce, regulate, educate and monitor the plastic bottle ban. At what point do we call on our elected officials and representatives to begin enforcing not only the interests of the people of our Island but also the laws that we, as a community, have voted into place?

I brought this to the attention of our towns, reaching out through multiple methods of correspondence to select boards regarding this issue. I never heard back. I began to ask myself, does my voice, as an Island kid, matter?

It was the children — the future — who put in a significant portion of the work to get these bylaws put into place and to start the conversations around them. At what point have we as a community let them down by not continuing to uplift their voices and respect their goals for the future?

I’m sure most of us know at this point that single-use plastics, globally, are one of the largest issues threatening us and our planet. Microplastics are in the babies being born, we consume a credit card sized amount of plastic a week, and there are garbage patches bigger than countries floating in our ocean.

The overuse and waste of single-use plastic is an issue threatening our planet and our local ecosystems. There is no more room for the excuse of “there’s nothing we can do.” There are many things we can do, beginning with enforcing this bylaw and supporting the businesses who have already made the changes. There is no better place to start than at home.

Rachel Salop lives in West Tisbury.