John,
In 2021 alone, Amazon created more than 700 million pounds of plastic waste, according to one estimate.[1]
The world's largest retailer can and must do better.
Amazon has a shareholder meeting later this month -- which presents a big opportunity for the public to send a strong message urging Amazon to meaningfully reduce single-use plastics. Will you sign our petition urging them to move beyond plastic?
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Nearly every time we buy something online, we're confronted with a pile of plastic mailing envelopes, air pillows, bubble wrap and foam. These materials are typically not accepted by local county and municipal recycling facilities -- so even when we make sure they go in the blue bin, they still end up in our landfills and waterways.[2]
Recyclable and biodegradable alternatives to single-use plastic packaging are available -- and Amazon itself has committed to cut use of single-use plastic packaging in Germany and India.[3] Why not here in the U.S.?
The stakes are clear: America produces more than a football stadium's worth of plastic waste every single day.[4] And a garbage truck's worth of it is dumped into our oceans every 45 seconds.[5]
We all do our best to cut down on our plastic use -- it's time corporations such as Amazon did the same. Add your name to our message to the world's largest retailer today. We'll be delivering our petition on May 17 so it's at the front of everyone's mind at Amazon's upcoming shareholder meeting.
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If we succeed in convincing Amazon to move beyond harmful single-use plastic packaging, we'll be helping to leave a cleaner, healthier and more sustainable future to our children and grandchildren.
Plus, each time a company commits to eliminating its plastic waste, it paves the way for another to follow suit. Amazon has the power to not only stop its plastic pollution, but spur the entire industry to do the same.
We know we can win. Thanks in large part to PIRG supporters like you, today 1 in every 3 Americans lives in a state with a robust ban on at least one type of single-use plastic.
But if we hope to convince Amazon to act, we need to stand together and raise a call too loud to ignore. Will you join us in urging Amazon to finally end its use of wasteful, unnecessary single-use plastic packaging?
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Thank you,
Faye Park
President
1. Brad Dress, "Amazon's plastic waste increased by 18 percent in 2021: report," The Hill, December 15, 2022.
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2. Brad Dress, "Amazon's plastic waste increased by 18 percent in 2021: report," The Hill, December 15, 2022.
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3. "Release: Call for Amazon to 'break up with plastic packaging' this Valentine's Day," PIRG, February 13, 2023.
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4. "Trash in America," PIRG, September 28, 2021.
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5. Margaret Spring and Rashid Sumaila, Ph.D., "US needs a national action plan to stem the tide of plastic pollution," The Hill, July 27, 2022.
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