Dear John,

Our hearts continue to be with all those experiencing the devastating impact of climate- and plastic-fueled wildfires in Southern California, including many Plastic Pollution Coalition (PPC) Staff, Board, Allies, and Members. We’re living during a period of climate collapse, and plastic pollution is a direct contributor. Our blog Plastic Chemicals in Wildfire Smoke and How to Protect Yourself provides information and resources for avoiding toxic air pollution from wildfires that burn through plasticized urban areas. Another blog, Drinking Water Contamination During Wildfires and How to Protect Yourself, explains how individuals and municipalities can avoid and address drinking water contamination from wildfires. If you’re experiencing climate anxiety in the wake of all the dire news lately, we also compiled a few tips for staying hopeful and resilient. 

This is a particularly tough time for those of us who care about our environment and the health of our planet. We are right there with you, and encourage you to prioritize self-care and connect with your communities in ways that are nourishing to you. In light of all of the challenges, we want to share some recent positive news resulting from our work.

As part of the Filtered Not Bottled Grant Program, we recently awarded a total of $100k to 10 organizations, all with excellent track records in their communities. These distributed grants will help support work directly on the ground, including providing education and distributing filters to people in frontline communities exposed to lead pipes and contaminated water.

Variety named “Plastic People” one of the top documentaries of 2024. The film is not yet available for streaming in the U.S., but we are proud to be an impact partner and will continue to provide updates about how you may see it and organize local screenings.

There is much more good work happening, and you can read about it below.

Onward together,

Julia Cohen, MPH
Co-Founder & Managing Director
Plastic Pollution Coalition

P.S. Please consider supporting our work, and help us create a world free from plastic pollution and its toxic impacts.

★ Plastic Chemicals in Wildfire Smoke and How to Protect Yourself
The climate crisis, coupled with plastic pollution, is making fires more dangerous, destructive, and frequent. Here’s what to know about plastic chemicals in wildfire smoke—and precautions you can take to stay safe. Read more.

★ Drinking Water Contamination During Wildfires and How to Protect Yourself
Plastic pollution and other types of hazardous pollution can contaminate drinking water during wildfires. We outline the dangers and provide our recommendations to municipalities and states on how to provide safe drinking water during wildfire disasters. Read more.

★ Climate Anxiety: How to Remain Hopeful & Resilient in Difficult Times
It’s normal to feel grief or even a sense of doom when taking in the recent news about climate-related disasters, environmental degradation, and destruction. Climate anxiety and its related challenges—including plastic pollution—are real, and it’s important to recognize that and acknowledge your feelings. Here are some tips for transforming despair into action—read more.

★ Filtered Not Bottled Grant Recipients Announced
PPC’s Filtered Not Bottled Grant program has awarded a total of $100K in grants to 10 nonprofits with long-standing relationships and strong reputations within frontline communities impacted by lead pipes. These grants will support efforts to expand clean water access without toxic plastic and lead as part of the Filtered Not Bottled campaign’s commitment to promote safe and equitable drinking water solutions, like water filters, not single-use plastic bottles. Read more. 

★ Plastic Pollution in Nonhuman Primate Habitats: A Growing Conservation Threat
The majority of primate species live in tropical forests, with many spending most or all of their time in trees. Yet plastic has reached even these remote primate populations. Read more.

★ Plastic Contamination Causes Recent Food Recalls
Plastic contamination is a major cause of recent food and drink recalls, which in 2024 reached a 5-year high. In light of this, we’ve compiled a quick round-up of food products that have been recalled specifically because of plastic contamination in the past year. Read more.

★ PPC January Webinar: Microplastics Within Us: Are We Becoming Plastic People?
On Wednesday, January 15, 2025, PPC held a discussion with scientific, advocacy, and media experts about microplastics and plastic chemicals that are getting inside of our bodies, and the importance of culture change, systems shifts, and plastic-free solutions that can protect our health. Joining the conversation was Yvette Arellano, Founder and Executive Director at Fenceline Watch; Erica Cirino, Author and Communications Manager at Plastic Pollution Coalition; and Dr. Leonardo Trasande, Vice Chair for Research and Jim G. Hendrick, MD Professor of Pediatrics at NYU Langone Health. The webinar was moderated by Alejandra Warren, Co-Founder and Executive Director at Plastic Free Future. Watch the recording.

➤ Find more Latest News on our website.

★ PPC February Webinar: Solutions Series: Less Plastic, Better Business
On February 20, 2025, PPC will be joined by three innovative founders to discuss their experiences in scaling small businesses that hold themselves to high standards of plastic mitigation. How do sustainable business practices help their companies maintain consumer loyalty and hedge against an uncertain regulatory future? Which challenges have they overcome, and which do they now face in creating safer products in plastic-free packaging? Joining the discussion will be Danielle Del Sordo, Co-Founder, Pirani Life; Kate Jakubas, Founder, Meliora Cleaning Products; and Justin Wolff, CEO, JunkTheory. The webinar will be moderated by Aidan Maguire, Coalition Program Manager, Plastic Pollution Coalition. Sign up.

★ Beyond Plastic Pollution Virtual Class
Join Beyond Plastics founder and President, Judith Enck, for “Beyond Plastic Pollution,” a course offered by Bennington College’s Center for the Advancement of Public Action. This in-depth masterclass covers all things plastic pollution–related and will be held via Zoom on Wednesday evenings from 7:00–9:00 PM ET starting on February 19 and ending on April 2. The class is open to anyone, anywhere. The cost is $100 to audit, or $400 for one Bennington College credit. Register here.

★ Plastics, Microplastics, and Human Health Course for Spring 2025
Join Megan J. Wolff, PhD, MPH, for an in-depth class on what is known—and what is being researched—on the impact of plastics, microplastics, and plastic chemicals on human health. Enrollment is open to all, with a $100 matriculation fee payable to Bennington College. The course will be held on Wednesdays from 7:00–8:50 pm ET, April 16–May 28, 2025. Register here.

➤ Find more Events on our website.

★ PPC Nominates 1% for the Planet for The Earthshot Prize
PPC is excited to announce 1% for the Planet as our nominee for The Earthshot Prize 2025. 1% for the Planet is a scalable partnership model between businesses and NGOs that unlocks financial support to accelerate collective action for environmental solutions globally. By securing commitments from businesses of all sizes to donate 1% of their annual revenues to vetted environmental organizations, 1% for the Planet has already unlocked and certified more than $675 million for environmental causes. Read more.

★ Hidden Costs: Plastic Subsidies Drain Public Resources and Threaten Human Health
This month we worked with PPC Business Member and material innovator Cruz Foam to shed light on the plastic-subsidy feedback loop that keeps plastic artificially cheap and fossil fuel companies in power. The collaborative blog exposes how billions of taxpayer dollars are subsidizing plastic production, generating record profits for oil and gas multinationals, and perpetuating systems of injustices and global pollution. Read more.

★ JunkTheory: How Aluminum Packaging is a Leading Solution to Plastic Pollution in Skincare
Roughly 43% of aluminum packaging in the U.S. is currently recycled, compared to plastic’s 5–10% “recycle” rate. When recirculated, aluminum is a viable and more sustainable alternative to plastic packaging. This month we are spotlighting PPC Business Member JunkTheory, which is using recycled aluminum packaging for their skincare products. Visit our Instagram account @plasticpollutes and follow @junktheory to learn more and support brands that refuse to use plastic packaging. And tune into our webinar next month to hear their CEO, Justin Wolff, speak about their journey. Sign up.

★ Join Plastic Pollution Coalition
Not yet a member of PPC? You may join as an individual, organization, or business. Apply here.

★ Tell Adidas, Amazon, Apple, H&M, Shein, & Unilever: Stop Trashing the Planet!
We are calling on some of the world's largest companies in their sectors—Adidas, Amazon, Apple, H&M, Shein, and Unilever—to immediately reduce their use and production of plastic packaging and cheap disposable products that are trashing our planet. Urge these companies to implement stronger targets for reducing plastic waste and increasing reuse efforts, and scale back their manipulative ads that drive the relentless cycle of overconsumption. Sign the petition.

★ Tell U.S. Leaders to Take a Strong Stance on the Global Plastics Treaty
The UN Global Plastics Treaty negotiations have been extended to next year with INC-5.2. Urge U.S. leaders to lead by forging ambitious solutions—like reduction of plastic production and freedom from corporate influence—instead of leading the world in generating plastic pollution. Sign the petition. 

★ Tell Starbucks: Build a Better Reusable Cup Campaign
Tell Starbucks Chairman and CEO Brian Niccol to promote and increase incentives and discounts for reusable cups. Starbucks uses more than 8,000 plastic cups and plastic-lined paper cups per minute, and up to 6 billion disposable cups and mugs worldwide each year. Most of this ends up in landfills, the environment, or is incinerated. A better reusable cup campaign could significantly reduce this pollution. Sign the petition.

➤ Find more Ways to Take Action

★ The Bow Seat 2025 Ocean Awareness Contest
The theme of the Bow Seat 2025 Ocean Awareness Contest—Connections to Nature: Looking Inside, Going Outside—encourages you to explore the natural world and your place in it. Open to students worldwide between the ages of 11–18. Cash awards up to $1,000. Submit by June 9, 2025.

★ Algalita's Student Mini-Grant Opportunity
These mini-grants are available to students looking for financial support for their personal education, school and community projects, internships, networking events, etc. connected to addressing the plastic crisis. Applications are open January 15–April 15, 2025. 

★ Plastic Kills… Again! Short Film Contest 
PPC has teamed up with Earth Angel for a second round of our popular Plastic Kills short film contest. We’re challenging filmmakers to create original horror short films that highlight the terrors of plastic pollution and its toxic impacts on our bodies, children, pets, and planet, while also helping to show real solutions to this real-life menace. This time, we’re offering cash prizes for first, second, and third place, with a grand prize of $3,000. Submissions are due September 15, 2025, giving you plenty of time to scare up your spookiest stories. Sign up for email updates.

★ Habitable Report
Habitable’s policy brief, “Buildings’ Hidden Plastic Problem,” shares statistics about current and projected plastic use in buildings and includes recommendations to reduce building products’ plastic pollution—including released greenhouse gases (GHGs), microplastics, and toxic chemicals. Read more.

➤ Find more Resources in our Resource Library.