In 1907, Leo Baekland created the first plastic from fossil fuels. The use of plastic grew during World War II. It was a key material in aircraft windows and weapons resulting in a 300 percent rise in plastic production. Petrochemical companies became excited by the prospect of cheaply producing a wide variety of products and encouraged the idea of convenient throwaway items. The amount of plastic production and manufacturing facilities continues to rise because it is so profitable for the petrochemical industries.

We’ve all been aware of plastics causing an environmental pollution problem for decades. It is tossed on the side of the road, littering our parks and beaches and overflowing garbage cans everywhere. There are horror stories about mountains of plastic in oceans around the world and the damage it has caused to sea life. But now, there seems to be a more serious concern about plastics in our lives. 

Plastic isn’t biodegradable. Very little of it is even recyclable. However, it does break down and produces microplastic particles that get into the air we breathe, the water we drink and the food we eat. And these microplastics come with a variety of toxic chemicals that go into plastic production. The chemicals are additives to give the plastic certain qualities, like malleability, strength or luster. Evidence is growing that these chemicals and microplastics are in our bodies attacking our hormones and organs, causing illnesses and death. Microplastics have been found in our brains, mothers’ milk, and even in newborns. Cancer rates in areas where plastic manufacturing facilities are located are extremely high. Our government has banned about 40 of these toxic chemicals, but lags behind the E.U. which has banned over 1,000.

Netflix recently released a documentary film, The Plastic Detox, about plastic’s impact on people around the world. Six healthy young couples, struggling with infertility, are given a plan to try to help them. A three month pilot project was begun by Shanna Swan, Ph.D., one of the world’s leading environmental and reproductive epidemiologists and a professor of Environmental Medicine and Public Health at the Icahn School of Medicine. 

Medical tests showed that the couples had high levels of BPA and phthalates, toxic plastic chemicals, in their blood. The men in the study all had low sperm counts. Dr. Swan’s project queried whether plastic could be a cause of the rise in fertility issues. The project plan was to eliminate as much plastic and its toxic chemicals as possible from the lives of these couples. 

The doctor pointed out that plastic and its chemical components are everywhere —  in our clothing, furniture, personal care items, cleaning products, appliances, toys, packaging and all sizes and shapes of bottled goods. She asked them to eliminate as many plastic items and fragrance enhanced products as they could. In addition, she told them to avoid handling receipts, buying foods in plastic containers or wrappings, and wearing brightly colored synthetic clothes. Swan told them to use natural personal care and fragrance free products.

After six weeks, halfway through, none of the couples had conceived but the men’s sperm counts were improving. One of the wives became pregnant but miscarried. As upsetting as that was, it also gave the couple hope that the project could succeed; it was her first pregnancy in years of trying. At the end of the three month program, all but one couple saw improved test results. There were fewer toxic chemical levels in blood tests and sperm counts were dramatically improved. 

At the time of the film’s release, two couples had a baby and one was pregnant. In addition to the improvement in fertility, the couples all felt they were getting better sleep, had more energy and lost some weight. Infertility is a worldwide problem that could challenge the continuation of humanity. Dr. Swan hopes these results will help get a government grant to conduct a larger experiment. 

The League of Women Voters is advocating for the passage of The Packaging Reduction and Recycling Infrastructure Act (S1749a/A1646a) which reduces plastic packaging, bans some of the worst toxic chemicals including banning PFAS, does not allow chemical recycling and makes big corporations pay for waste management. This will save tax dollars and protect public health. 

But industry lobbyists are in Albany fighting hard against this bill, blaming it for higher consumer prices. We need the public’s help and support. Call your state representatives now and tell them to vote for passage of this legislation.

Karen Anderson is  a member of the leadership team of the Smithtown League of Women Voters a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that encourages the informed and active participation of citizens in government and influences public policy through education and advocacy. Visit https://my.lwv.org/new-york/suffolk-county or call 631-862-6860.

From our beginnings in 1920 to current day, the League of Women Voters has been at the forefront of fighting to preserve and expand our democracy. Today, over 800 leagues in the United States work under the umbrella of the national League Board as well as their individual state Boards. This immense reach gives the League the ability to advocate for democracy on the local, state and national levels, which is of increasing importance as our CEO Celina Stewart has declared this country is in a Constitutional crisis, requiring vigilance at all levels of government.

At the local level, for the first time ever, the League is offering election protection training to its members. The election protection volunteer will ensure that the entrance to the polling place is accessible, without intimidation from campaigners or ICE personnel, check that voters are not required to show an ID unless under a special condition, and otherwise monitor the election site. Their goal is to promote transparency, document procedures, deter misconduct and build public trust, and ensure  no voter is turned away without a way to vote. 

Local leagues are also meeting with community groups to explain about the importance of voting, registering voters, and encouraging early in-person and mail-in voting. We are in schools registering students who are 18 and over and citizens, helping school districts implement a state-mandated requirement. We remind voters that the United State Constitution gives states the responsibility to run elections, despite threats from the current administration to nationalize elections and disallow voting by mail. We encourage voters to ask the post office staff to hand-stamp mail-in ballots to ensure they are postmarked at least 10 days before the election, or to deliver the ballots to the polling place.  

At the State level, the New York State League of Women Voters supports legislation which will further safeguard elections. The Voter Challenge Protections Act seeks to modernize outdated voter challenge laws to prevent intimidation and harassment at polling sites. The Poll Site Emergency Extender Act would create clear statewide remedies when poll sites experience lengthy disruptions. The Protect Polling Places Act seeks to prohibit civil arrests, including immigration-related arrests, targeting voters traveling to, remaining at, or returning from polling places. The New York Election Officer Protection Act protects election workers from intimidation, threats or doxxing.

At the federal level, the National League issues statements and amicus briefs on various pieces of legislation or issues. As we’ve mentioned in our last article, the League issued a statement against the Save Act, which passed the House in 2025 but has not passed the Senate, and would require every American citizen  to provide specific documents proving citizenship, chiefly a passport or an original birth certificate, in person, when registering to vote and any time they update their voter registration.

This would place a burden on anyone whose last name has changed, such as married women, on tribal citizens whose tribal ID’s may not list a place of birth, and on older citizens who may have lost their birth certificates. 

More recently, in conjunction with the NAACP and the Equal Justice Society, the League of Women Voters filed a series of amicus briefs urging federal courts to invalidate an illegal executive order issued by President Trump seeking to revoke birthright citizenship.

As our CEO Celina Stewart said, “The Fourteenth Amendment is unequivocal and clear: any person born in the United States is a U.S. citizen. The intent of the Fourteenth Amendment laid the groundwork for civil rights advancements in this country while securing a legal framework for equality in America. The League of Women Voters of the U.S. will continue pushing this administration to honor the Constitution, push back on direct attacks on Black Americans and fight to ensure the promise of American democracy and personhood.”

Nancy Marr is Vice-President of the League of Women Voters of Suffolk County and Elise Antonelli is Co-Chair of the Issues and Advocacy Committee of the League of Women Voters of Huntington. The League of Women Voters a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that encourages the informed and active participation of citizens in government and influences public policy through education and advocacy. Visit https://my.lwv.org/new-york/suffolk-county or call 631-862-6860.

We at the League of Women Voters often hear from fellow Suffolk County residents; by phone, via email and in person. With the never-ending media cycle reporting news, but also spreading misinformation and partial information, it’s difficult for responsible voters to sort through it all and prepare to vote. The issues range: What branch and level of government has election authority? Who maintains and updates voter files/data bases? Who controls the voter registration process and verification? Who determines how voting occurs (such as types of voting machines, early voting, absentee voting, mail-in voting)? Who protects voters at the polling places? Who counts the ballots? What are the rules for poll-watchers? We will devote this column, and subsequent ones, to explaining and clarifying these issues and concerns, and help navigate the deluge of confusing, misleading and incomplete information that we’re all experiencing daily.
Please remember that the President has no explicit constitutional authority over elections, and if a president signs executive orders to exert such authority, as has happened this year, lawsuits are immediately filed. These argue that the Constitution grants no explicit authority to the executive branch regarding elections. It does dictate that Congress may pass laws overseeing elections, but grants the states broad authority to conduct elections, including the “time, place and manner.
Voting by mail, in particular, has become a flashpoint from the executive branch. Voting by mail was used by about one in three American voters in the 2024 election. Many of us can recall family members who were frustrated by work or family issues which made them unable to go to the polls on Elections Day, and thus were deprived of casting a ballot. Now (in New York State) we have 9 days of early voting in person, as well as the ability to request an early mail or absentee ballot if needed. Those additional means of making your voice heard via your vote are part of what makes us feel vested in the democratic promise and process in the United States. Any restrictions or roll-backs on these expansions of citizen voting would deprive those with disabilities, illnesses, family responsibilities, work demands, or other burdens from exercising their Constitutional right to vote.
The League of Women Voters is receiving even more questions relating to proof of citizenship in registering and casting your vote. As we write this column, the SAVE Act has been introduced in Congress, and would require voters to present documentary proof of citizenship (DPOC) - chiefly a passport or original birth certificate - in person when registering and/or voting in a federal election, and anytime they update their voter registration. The League strongly opposes the SAVE Act, since it is already illegal for noncitizens to register and vote in federal or state elections. Ten years ago Kansas passed a law requiring a passport, birth certificate of other proof of citizenship to register, but it was struck down after a court found around 31,000 eligible voters had been blocked from voting. Eight in ten married women have changed their surnames, thus don’t possess a birth certificate that matches their current legal name and therefore could not present it as valid proof of citizenship (an estimated 69 million American women would be affected). Rural voters, working-class voters, voters of color and older Americans are less likely to hold a passport or readily accessible birth certificate. Families who have been impacted by natural disasters may have lost original documentation. To express your concerns with the SAVE Act, contact your member of Congress (In CD1, Nick LaLota 631 289-1097 lalota.house.gov)
Educate yourself by expanding your sources of information, in particular, regularly visit the New York State Board of Elections website - elections.ny.gov - as well as the Suffolk County Board of Elections site - suffolkvotes.com. The boards of election are bipartisan; they have equal representation from Democratic and Republican party members, and work together to ensure fair elections.
New York State’s Primary Election day is June 23, 2026, with Early Voting from June 13 through June 21. You must have been registered in a party on or before February 14, 2026 in order to vote in that party’s primary elections in your district. It’s always a good idea to check your voter registration status on the NYS Board of Election website at https://voterlookup.elections.ny.gov/ well in advance of election day to check on your election district and polling place. Closer to the election, visit VOTE411.org for nonpartisan customized voter and candidate information.

Lisa Scott is president of the League of Women Voters of Suffolk County, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that encourages the informed and active participation of citizens in government and influences public policy through education and advocacy. Visit https://my.lwv.org/new-york/suffolk-county or call 631-862-6860.

In 2017 the Long Island Nitrogen Action Plan (LINAP) warned us that “the levels of nitrogen on Long Island from sewer and septic systems and cesspools and stormwater runoff, are harming both our surface and ground waters,” referring particularly to the nitrogen that is not removed from the more than 360,000 existing cesspools and conventional septic systems before it is released on the ground or waters. As part of a broad, multi-pronged effort to combat nitrogen pollution, the Suffolk County Department of Health Services made changes to the Suffolk County Sanitary Code that close a loophole that has existed for decades. Former Health Commissioner Dr. James Tomarken said, “the use of cesspools in new construction has been outlawed in Suffolk County since 1973 but because the regulations did not address replacement systems, owners of cesspools had been able to replace a failed cesspool with another cesspool rather than adding aseptic tank to comply with the new requirements, which require, at a minimum, a septic tank preceding a leaching structure. Homeowners may now also voluntarily install innovative, onsite wastewater-treatment systems, I/A OWTS, which are designed to reduce nitrogen pollution, as an alternative.
LINAP identified the need for a management district to provide the administrative and legal structure necessary to protect our waters. In 2024, the New York State Legislature authorized Suffolk County to create a water quality restoration fund and a county management district (CWMD). The science-based Suffolk County Subwatersheds Wastewater Plan (SWP), written by the Suffolk County Health Department with the support of a variety of stakeholders and environmental advocates and the CWMD, developed an implementation strategy and timeline for the project. It created an administrative structure for the county’s long-term water quality plan, including the conversion of all cesspools and septic systems to nitrogen-reducing A/I OWTS systems and the merger of all the sewers in the county to one centralized system. In order to be sure that the goals of clean water are met and homeowners can afford to install and maintain the new I/A OWTS systems, the county plans a program to offer financial assistance to homeowners to install and maintain I/A OWTS systems.
Suffolk County Legislators proposed creating the Water Quality Restoration Fund, which could provide grants from the NYS Septic Improvement Program (SIP) and suggested a .0125% increase of the county sales tax. However after much discussion the hearing was closed along partisan lines by legislators who wanted a greater balance between funds for sewers and cesspool replacement, despite the obvious greater need for funds for cesspool replacement. Fortunately, In 2024 the funding referendum was approved with 72% of the vote, and the extra tax was collected starting March 1, 2025.
In order to be sure that homeowners can afford to install and maintain the new I/A OWTS systems, the county plans a program to provide county financing or a New York State loan. During the two-month comment period held by the county when it presented the Wastewater Plan (SWP), many county residents raised concerns and questions. One related to the effect of agriculture, and the over-use of nitrogen fertilizer on lawns and farms. Public education is recommended to inform residents and their landscapers that they should add organic materials to support overall soil health, and not nitrogen-based fertilizer. Carbon-based materials such as organic fertilizers, compost, grass clippings or cover crops provide a range of benefits to both plants and soil and provide carbon to feed soil microorganisms, increase soil organic matter, and improve overall soil health. Adding organic materials to soil also improves water holding capacity in sandy soils and increases drainage and aeration in clay soils. Using organic materials as mulch can suppress weed growth, reduce temperature and moisture fluctuations, prevent transmission of soil-borne plant pathogens, and minimize soil erosion, and incorporating organic materials can actually reduce the need for supplemental fertilizers based on nitrogen.
Since 1973 replacement of existing cesspools or septic systems must meet the new standards and install a septic tank preceding a leaching structure or a new onsite wastewater treatment system which is designed to reduce nitrogen pollution. To find out more, visit www.reclaimourwater.info or call 631-852-5811.
In addition the increase of funding for sewers, which was supported by developers, labor unions, and many of the legislators, would make it possible to build more housing, but would also encourage building projects on land that could be preserved. The SWP cautions that all sewer projects require project-specific feasibility studies and environmental State Environmental Quality Reviews (SEQR) to be sure that they are well situated and planned.

Nancy Marr is Vice-President of the League of Women Voters of Suffolk County, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that encourages the informed and active participation of citizens in government and influences public policy through education and advocacy. Visit https://my.lwv.org/new-york/suffolk-county or call 631-862-6860.

Although the goal of the Federal Government’s ICE program is to find and deport residents who are here illegally and have committed crimes, many people in our local communities are seeing ICE agents take people who did enter legally or have gained legal status through marriage or other means. There is no certainty that they are all guilty of crimes. Many of us have neighbors who fear they will be picked up and detained, especially if they look as though they are Latino or Asian. Fortunately, there are many organizations that exist in Suffolk County that have programs to advise immigrants of their rights and ways to deal with ICE officers safely. A local agency, Sepa Mujer, that serves the Hispanic community with information about health care, jobs, and advocacy, especially for women, has created an Introduction to Safety Planning.

The Brookhaven League of Voters met with Andrea Antonellis, a paralegal advocate from Sepa Mujer, to learn about the training that they share with persons who fear detention by ICE. She reminds them that they should always carry their documentation with them – including their alien number, which they would get when they enter the country, their passport if they have one, as well as their medical records and proof of residence.

The advocate advises them that they may be arrested for various reasons, but if they are, they should not resist, but say that they want to speak to a lawyer. ICE agents might come to their home - it might be for somebody who lived there before but the best thing to do, if they feel safe, is to be cooperative. If they do not feel safe, they should not open their door and if they can find other ways of communicating, do so, or give the immigration officer one of the red cards to read.

The red cards, in English and Spanish, are available from many organizations to help people facing questions from an immigration agent. They state clearly, in English and Spanish, that the holder has chosen to exercise their constitutional rights, that, under the Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, the holder has the right to refuse to speak with the agent or answer his questions, or sign or hand him any documents. It states that the holder does not give the agent permission to enter their home, based on the Fourth Amendment, unless the agent has a warrant to enter, signed by a judge or magistrate with their name on it, and the holder does not give the agent permission to search any of their belongings.
If the officers force their way into their home, they should gather their family in a safe place in one room, put their phone on, and call their lawyer right away. Also, they should not sign anything they don’t understand or is not in a language they understand.

Andrea added – it is wise to make a safety plan. Create a secret word that identifies ICE, “code blue.” If ICE comes to her home, she should text a good friend, “code blue” at my house. Her friend will know that there's an ICE officer at her home so that if she doesn't hear from her within an hour or two, she will start gathering the documentation she will need - her alien registration number, date of birth, full name, and the country of birth.
If she is detained she will need an attorney to assist her to sign guardianship papers to protect her dependents, and to arrange for one of her friends to withdraw money from her bank account if she needs it for necessities like medicine or food.

But it's always very important for her to ask if she is being detained or not. If they say yes, she is being detained, then she has to stay there in the situation and just let them do their job. If they say no, she is not being detained, she can say, okay, am I free to go? If they say yes, then she can walk away.
Red cards can be obtained from many organizations. Go to the New York Immigrant Coalition www.nyic.org) which has information about many issues faced by immigrants in New York.

Nancy Marr is Vice-President of the League of Women Voters of Suffolk County, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that encourages the informed and active participation of citizens in government and influences public policy through education and advocacy. Visit https://my.lwv.org/new-york/suffolk-county or call 631-862-6860.