John,

Amazon generates millions of pounds of plastic waste every year. And that plastic packaging can be deadly for whales and sea turtles.

We need to stem the tide of plastic trash entering our oceans -- and we're calling on Amazon to do its part.

Amazon's next shareholder meeting is only a week away, and we need to ensure that a commitment to reduce plastic packaging is on the agenda. Tell Amazon to cut down on plastic packaging.

Thank you,

Ellen Montgomery

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Environment Colorado <[email protected]>
Date: Mon, May, 15, 2023
Subject: Tell Amazon to use less plastic packaging
To: John xxxxxx <[email protected]>

John,

To a hungry sea turtle, those plastic air pillows that come in your Amazon package look a lot like a tasty jellyfish when they're floating in the ocean. But once eaten, this plastic pollution can be deadly to turtles, whales and other marine life.

We're calling on Amazon to reduce its single-use plastic packaging -- air pillows, bubble wrap envelopes and more -- and we need to deliver a flood of messages before its next shareholder meeting on May 24.

Will you add your name to put our planet over plastic today?

Flexible plastic packaging is one of the deadliest forms of plastic pollution in the ocean, and whales, dolphins and turtles are at especially high risk from eating it.1

It can get caught in an animal's digestive system, making it harder for an unfortunate sea turtle to dive or an unlucky whale to fill up on plankton. Too often, these animals die painful deaths with stomachs full of plastic.2

As the world's largest online retailer, Amazon uses a lot of plastic packaging. Amazon generated 709 million pounds of plastic waste in 2021 -- enough to circle the globe 800 times in the form of plastic air pillows.3

And although this packaging might sport a recycling symbol, most U.S. recyclers don't accept it.4 Amazon needs to reduce the amount of plastic packaging it uses -- and right now, we have an opportunity to make our voices heard.

Add your name to tell Amazon to reduce its plastic packaging.

Amazon can deliver packages without all the plastic waste. It's already agreed to replace all plastic packages with paper-based bags or cardboard boxes in Germany.5

Amazon can do the same here in the U.S., and in doing so, it can help shift the entire industry away from wasteful single-use plastic packaging.

Imagine a world where plastic pollution no longer flows into our rivers and oceans, where turtles and whales no longer gamble with their lives with every snack they catch. We can have that greener world -- but we need companies like Amazon to do their part to help us get there.

Tell Amazon to reduce its plastic packaging before the May 24 deadline.

Thank you,

Ellen Montgomery

1. Graham Readfearn, "Deadliest plastics: bags and packaging biggest marine life killers, study finds," The Guardian, December 13, 2020.
2. Graham Readfearn, "Deadliest plastics: bags and packaging biggest marine life killers, study finds," The Guardian, December 13, 2020.
3. Haleluya Hadero, "Group casts doubt on Amazon's claims of reducing plastic," AP News, December 15, 2022.
4. Kristen Millares Young, "Why Amazon's new streamlined packaging is jamming up recycling centers," The Washington Post, February 11, 2019.
5. "Amazon to cut down plastic packaging in Germany," AP News, November 21, 2021.