Extraordinary Jane: Jean Hill

Jean Hill is an everyday woman living in Concord, Ma. The 82-year old grandmother was shocked to learn from her 10-year-old grandson about the large gyres forming in the oceans filled with garbage including water bottles.

She immediately began investigating and learning about the impact plastic water bottles is having on the environment and to our health.

She came to the conclusion that this could all be avoided if people stopped using plastic water bottles and began drinking tap water again. For two years Jean has been working with neighbors and local officials to ban plastic water bottles in her small, historic town.

This month, Concord was the first town in the United States to ban the sale of plastic bottles. This movement isn't limited to just Concord though, 100 municipalities in the United States have sought to reduce consumption of bottled water and cities such as San Francisco, Salt Lake City, Miami, Chicago, and Chapel Hill, N.C., have banned government purchases of bottled water.

So what does Jean's grandson think of his grandma now? Well he is very, very proud.

Tell us how you got involved with the ban on the sale of plastic bottles.

I was visiting my son and my grandson, who is very good with the computer, said, “Did you know, Grandma, there are clumps of plastic floating around the ocean?” That got me started and I began investigating more about it. I called Corporate Accountability International, which is an ecological and environmentalist outfit located in Boston, for more information about what was going on and that information spurred me on.

What did you learn?

There are at least eight large gyres (circular currents) in the oceans that are beginning to collect an incredible amount of debris.

In the Pacific, there is one the size of Texas floating around that could possibly contain 225 million pounds of plastic waste.

What did you find most shocking?

The pollution and the fact that each one of those bottles takes four-hundred years to degrade and there are clumps of them all over, clogging up the water ways and oceans, fish are getting caught in these clumps, and fisherman are losing their lines, it is a total mess. And there is no reason for this. Our tap water is fine.

What were the first steps you took in organizing a coalition?

I first had to get a petition signed by 15 or more legal Concord residents. It then became a petition article on the town warrant and was voted on by the City's residents.

What was the overall response from the community?

Most people were happy to sign it, a couple were dubious and didn't, and some were down right against it.

What were the reasons people were for or against the ban?

The majority of people were, of course, for it because of the damage it is doing to our planet. Some of the people that were opposed were because they are dependent on their water bottles.

Was it difficult to stand up in front of your community and speak out?

I had prepared a speech for our town meeting and obviously it convinced a majority of the citizens to vote in favor of the ban. If I believe in something, I'll speak right out. I'm 82 years old, and I don't want to leave this world until I'm all used up, so whenever I see injustice or greed or lies, I will fight them.

Tell us about how the town of Concord, Mass. passed a ban on water bottles.

I've been working for two years on this and last year I got the City to amend the Massachusetts Bottle Bill to include the sale of plastic water. Now that has been sitting in committees since who knows when, so I decided I was not going to wait for that to happen. I came back to town meetings with this ban, and the town voted favorably for it. So the town must enforce that law, it is their responsibility. Now there is some discussion about sending this to the Attorney General for review, but I don't think he can do anything because it is not a bylaw, it is a ban.

Have you always been involved in activism?

When I was a kid, I had a job in a factory that had been converted to making parachutes during World War II, and I realized that there were many employees that had never had a paid vacation so I decided I would start a Union at the age of the sixteen. I went to the local Union's office and said, “You know there is a bad situation in this factory and I think you should do something about it.” They essentially brushed me off. They thought I was a smart-alecky kid and that made me angry.

What is your message to women around the world?

Stand up and fight for everything you believe in, learn to be tolerant of people who disagree with you and do everything in your power to make this a better world for our children and grandchildren.

See Jane Do is a multimedia program capturing the stories of everyday women doing extraordinary things for the planet. Catch the one-hour talk radio program on KVMR 89.5FM the first Wednesday of every month at 1 p.m. For more information, visit www.seejanedo.com.

Comments

[Lisa Barron]

Hi Jean!
Many thanks and hurray!!-- for doing what we all should do publicly -toss the bottled water and go back to the taps..Its all a scam to make tons of money from something that should be our right and is still available if we protect it.
Next they will be selling bottled air after they have polluted it all!
Dont stop your campaign, it may spread around the country! the water thieves may have the lawyers and the $$$ but you have the moral imperative People understand what you are about and support you. Good luck