Friend,
Last year, the United States failed to join more than 180 other countries in signing an agreement to restrict the plastic waste being shipped and dumped overseas.[1]
We can't just export our plastic waste crisis -- we have to start using less to begin with. With supporters like you standing with us, we can move our country beyond plastic.
Friend, our 2021 End of Fiscal Year Drive ends on June 30. Will you donate today to fuel our Beyond Plastic campaign in the months ahead? When you do, your gift will be MATCHED, dollar for dollar, up to $10,000 nationwide.
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When it comes to plastic pollution, what goes around will keep coming around and stick around forever -- unless we stop it now. The U.S. produces more plastic waste than it can handle: about 1.5 football stadiums' worth of trash piling up in our landfills, communities and environment every day.[2]
For years, our "solution" has been to send it to other countries -- such as the Philippines, Indonesia, Vietnam and Malaysia -- even when they're not asking for it. But other countries are starting to refuse our plastic waste.[3] By January 2020, Malaysia had shipped over 8 million pounds of unwanted plastic waste back to the countries it came from, including the U.S.[4]
Our trash is no longer out of sight, out of mind. If we want to truly solve our waste crisis, we have to reduce our reliance on plastic, particularly the single-use items we use for just a few minutes but pollute our planet for hundreds of years.
Momentum is growing across the country for bans on the worst single-use plastics and policies to make plastics producers responsible for the waste their products become. Can we count on your support to win more bold action on plastic in the months ahead? Donate today to double your impact with a matched gift.
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Here's some of the recent progress that we're working to build on in the months ahead:
* We're winning statewide bans on the worst single-use plastics. Right now, 31 percent of Americans live in a state with a robust ban on some type of single-use plastics -- thanks in no small part to PIRG's advocacy and the thousands of citizen supporters like you who champion these commonsense bans in their communities.[5] How long until the number is 50 percent? How about 100?
* We have a chance at unprecedented national action. PIRG advocates have worked closely with federal lawmakers to re-introduce the Break Free From Plastic Pollution Act. This legislation would be our country's most comprehensive step by far toward curbing plastic waste. It includes bans on certain single-use plastics, as well as policies to shift more financial responsibility for collecting and processing single-use plastics onto the companies that make them.
* We're leading a growing chorus calling on corporations to do their part. Imagine if one of the country's largest grocers committed to getting single-use plastic packaging off its shelves. That's what U.S. PIRG and thousands of citizen advocates like you are urging Whole Foods to do. The company's status as an environmental leader was called into question by an As You Sow report that gave it an "F" on its plastics policies.[6] But if Whole Foods steps up to the challenge, it could spark an industry-wide shift and make a major difference in the fight against plastic pollution.
You can help ensure we have the resources we need to keep winning on plastic. Our 2021 End of Fiscal Year Drive ends at midnight on June 30 -- and starting now, your gift will be matched! Donate today to make this the moment when we move our country beyond plastic.
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Thank you,
Faye Park
President
1. Hiroko Tabuchi and Michael Corkery, "Countries Tried to Curb Trade in Plastic Waste. The U.S. Is Shipping More." The New York Times, March 12, 2021.
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2. "Break the Waste Cycle," U.S. PIRG Education Fund, October 29, 2020.
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3. Hiroko Tabuchi and Michael Corkery, "Countries Tried to Curb Trade in Plastic Waste. The U.S. Is Shipping More." The New York Times, March 12, 2021.
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4. "Malaysia sends back trash, says won't be world's waste bin," Associated Press, January 19, 2020.
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5. "Beyond Plastic," U.S. PIRG, last accessed June 11, 2021.
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6. "Whole Foods, UNFI earn F's in plastic pollution report," Sustainable Foods News, June 17, 2020.
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Your donation will power our dedicated staff of organizers, policy experts and attorneys who drive all of our campaigns in the public interest, from banning Roundup and moving us beyond plastic, to saving our antibiotics and being your consumer watchdog, to protecting our environment and our democracy. None of our work would be possible without the support of people just like you.
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U.S. PIRG
Main Office: 1543 Wazee St., Suite 460, Denver, CO 80202, (303) 801-0582
Federal Advocacy Office: 600 Pennsylvania Ave. SE, 4th Fl., Washington, DC 20003, (202) 546-9707
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