Hi,

Do you think producing more plastic will help us solve the climate crisis?

America’s Plastic Makers think so. In a recent article, the industry group decried our Planet vs. Plastics theme for Earth Day 2024 as “misguided,” and claimed that plastic producers are actually leading the way to fight for a cleaner planet. These claims amount to little more than greenwashed lies. 

Plastic producers can talk the talk but at the end of the day, their industry is expected to contribute an estimated 19% of global carbon emissions by 2040.¹ Without them, the nearly 170 trillion pieces of microplastics that currently taint our oceans would not be decimating our marine life.² The millions of tons of plastic waste piling up in our overflowing landfills would not exist without their contributions. America’s Plastic Makers are trying to reframe this as a climate issue, while brushing the very real issues with plastic under the rug: the effect on human health.

This morning, we asked you to call out Dow Inc. with a letter to the CEO.³ Now, you can amplify your impact with a critically needed donation to EARTHDAY‍.ORG this Earth Day.

We know that plastic is a substantial threat to human health: cardiovascular diseases, hormone interference, and effects on the reproductive system, among others, have all been linked to the dangerous chemicals in plastics. If America’s Plastic Makers — of which Dow is a member — truly wanted to take a step towards a healthier world, they would release the research they have on plastics and human health, not pivot onto climate change.

These producers claim that plastic is just so efficient that we can’t live without it, and plastic can actually be the solution to climate change. Plastic producers can make all the baseless claims they want, but their empty promises of advanced recycling technology and more eco-friendly plastic packaging have yet to slow the rising tide of plastic choking our planet. In the long-term, plastic will only cause more harm than good for both humans and the environment. 

That’s exactly why Earth Day declared our Planet vs. Plastics theme, to shine a light on the important issues; their deflection makes our point, and proves that we can be a catalyst for conversation and change.

Will you chip in to help us make a bigger impact?

For our health,

Kathleen Rogers
President

Footnotes:

1. UN Environmental Programme: https://www.unep.org/interactives/beat-plastic-pollution/ 

2. PLOS ONE: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0281596 

3. EARTHDAY‍.ORG: https://www.earthday.org/letter-to-dow/