Friend,
Great news: Colorado's Plastic Pollution Reduction Act was just signed into law.
PIRG was instrumental in passing this crucial policy, and we were only able to because of supporters like you.
In the face of the ever-growing problem of plastic pollution, PIRG supporters have helped win concrete steps to curb the amount of plastic piling up in our landfills and polluting our environment. Thank you for helping move the country beyond plastic.
A simple solution to an obvious problem
Here's why I'm so excited about Colorado's new restrictions on single-use plastics -- and why you should be too.
Not only does it phase out some of the most common and harmful single-use items (namely plastic bags and polystyrene foam cups and containers), it also allows municipalities more freedom to go even further on single-use plastics if their residents so choose.
We think of it like this: If your bathtub is overflowing, the first thing you should do is turn off the tap. As more states like Colorado ban the single-use plastics we just don't need, we're making real progress toward turning off the tap on plastic waste pollution.
A team effort
Of course, this kind of victory doesn't come without teamwork. And in this particular case, young people really came through.
In March, CoPIRG, Environment Colorado and other advocacy groups organized the second annual (and first virtual) Plastic Pollution Youth Lobby Day. More than 400 K-12 students from across the state lobbied Colorado legislators via Zoom, urging them to support the Plastic Pollution Reduction Act.
Back in the summer of 2019, CoPIRG canvassers knocked on doors across the state to build up support. And CoPIRG held a rally at the capitol in November of that year, earning media attention and showing just how ready Coloradans were to move beyond plastic.
Who's next?
What are the three most important keys to tackling our plastic waste crisis? Momentum, momentum, momentum. And that's exactly what Colorado is providing by becoming the 10th state to ban single-use plastic shopping bags in certain stores and the eighth to ban foam food containers.
So what new progress will you and I see in the weeks and months ahead? If Colorado, Washington, Virginia and New Jersey all achieved statewide bans on single-use plastics in just the past year, how many more states will take action in the months to come? At the national level, will our federal lawmakers step up and pass the Break Free From Plastic Pollution Act to finally place responsibility for plastic waste on the companies that produce the plastic in the first place?
At U.S. PIRG, we say, why not all of the above? Because with supporters like you behind us and momentum surging across the country for bold action on this issue, we know we can succeed in moving our country beyond plastic.
Thank you for standing with us and making it all possible,
Faye Park
President
P.S. As a citizen-funded organization, we rely on the support of people like you to fuel our work to move our country beyond plastic. Will you donate today to help us keep our advocacy going strong in the months ahead?
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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
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