Learn More and Take Action to Stop Plastic Pollution
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OCTOBER 2021

[2]

Dear John,

We have some epic wins to celebrate this month. On October 5, CALIFORNIA
GOVERNOR NEWSOM SIGNED MULTIPLE PIECES OF LEGISLATION [3] into law that
will significantly reduce California’s consumption and disposal of
plastic. California, which in 2020 was named the highest producer and
exporter of plastic pollution, is now leading the U.S. on building systems
that are reusable, sustainable, and truly plastic-free! The Governor’s
climate leadership also includes phasing out oil production, preventing new
oil drilling near communities, and establishing science-based 3,200-foot
setbacks for oil and gas operations.

Many of the new California laws have also been proposed at the federal
level in the BREAK FREE FROM PLASTIC POLLUTION ACT [4], introduced by
Senator Jeff Merkley (OR) and Representative Alan Lowenthal (CA). Sign on
to support this landmark legislation here [5] and ask your state
representatives to support it too.

We are days away from the start of the United Nations Climate Change
Conference (COP26) being held in Glasgow, Scotland, and our PPC Youth
Ambassadors have launched a campaign calling on world leaders to take bold
action to safeguard the future. Read the details and sign on to support
them here [6]. And be sure to check out the amazing campaign by
artist/activist Ben Von Wong [2] to tell world leaders to
#TurnOffThePlasticTap!

In other big news, the 2021 Break Free From Plastic Corporate Brand Audit
data [7] once again reveals Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, Unilever, Nestle, and
Procter & Gamble as the top plastic polluters in global cleanups. Activists
urge these corporations to REVEAL the total amount of plastic they produce,
drastically REDUCE it, and redesign their packaging for REUSE.

Finally, be sure to check out our tricks and treats for a plastic-free
Halloween [8]!

Onward together,

Dianna Cohen
Co-Founder & CEO
Plastic Pollution Coalition

* Dianna Cohen Photo: Copyright Kieran E. Scott from 200 Women,
www.twohundredwomen.com

RECENT HIGHLIGHTS

[6]

★ Plastic Pollution Coalition Youth Ambassadors Call on World Leaders to
Take Action at the UN Climate Change Conference (COP26) and beyond (Oct. 4)
[6]
PPC Youth Activists are calling for drastic, progressive measures to reduce
the production and disposal of single-use plastics and also to adopt
policies aimed at human and environmental justice. “As youth, we may only
be 18% of the population today, but we are 100% OF THE FUTURE.” Read more
and sign on to support here [6].

★ BREAK FREE FROM PLASTIC (BFFP) HELD A NATIONAL EVENT [9] on OCT. 26 to
address the crisis of environmental racism, the destruction of natural
resources, and the climate crisis. Don’t worry if you missed it; you can
still sign the petition [10] asking President Biden to IMMEDIATELY HALT
APPROVALS FOR NEW AND EXPANDED FOSSIL-FUELED PETROCHEMICAL PROJECTS
including cracker plants and CREATE A PATHWAY FOR FENCELINE COMMUNITIES TO
PARTICIPATE IN REFORMING EXISTING EMISSION REGULATIONS for existing
infrastructure with a standard of safety.

★ October Webinar: The Cost Of Convenience: Quest for Solutions to the
Plastic Pollution Crisis (Oct. 20)
During the October PPC webinar, we focused on the CONNECTION BETWEEN THE
PLASTIC POLLUTION CRISIS AND ENVIRONMENTAL INJUSTICE AROUND THE WORLD,
where economically disadvantaged nations take in a larger share of the
world’s trash, and manufacturing chemicals threaten predominantly Black
and low-income communities. Our panelists included ERICA CIRINO, author of
a new book, _Thicker Than Water: The Quest for Solutions to the Plastic
Crisis_ [11]; DR. KERIM ODEKON, environmental justice advocate, member of
the Brookhaven Landfill Action & Remediation Group, and clinical assistant
professor of medicine at Stony Brook Medicine, New York, USA; and DR. SEDAT
GÜNDOĞDU, Associate Professor, Microplastic Research Group, Faculty of
Fisheries, University of Cukurova, Turkey. You can watch the webinar here
[12]. _Thicker Than Water: The Quest for Solutions to the Plastic Crisis_
[13] is available from Island Press. Visit www.islandpress.org [14] and use
code PPC25 for 25% off all books.

★ Artist/Activist Ben Von Wong Launches Campaign To “Turn Off The
Plastic Tap” (Oct. 5)
A picture is worth a thousand words -- and Artist/Activist Ben Von Wong’s
latest art installation of an omnipresent plastic tap leaking a steady
stream of plastic into the environment is a perfect visual metaphor for the
global plastics crisis. Learn about his “turn off the plastic tap”
campaign raising awareness on the burgeoning harm of plastic production
here [2].

★ The Story of Plastic Free Streaming Extended Through November 30, 2021
+ Subtitles In 28 Languages [15]
Following its win for best writing at the 42nd Annual News and Documentary
Emmy Awards, Discovery has extended its free stream [15] of _The Story of
Plastic_ on YouTube through November 30, 2021. Subtitles in the following
languages have been added: _Arabic, Bulgarian, Chinese (Simplified),
Chinese (Traditional), Croatian, Danish, Dutch, English, French, German,
Greek, Hindi, Hungarian, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Lithuanian, Polish,
Portuguese (Brazil), Russian, Slovak, Spanish (Spain), Swahili, Tamil,
Thai, Turkish, Ukrainian, and Vietnamese. _Spread the word! [15]

★ Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives Demands for World Leaders
at COP26
In a powerfully worded letter [16], the Global Alliance For Incinerator
Alternatives (GAIA) has called on world leaders to meet their Paris
Agreement NDC’s by adopting zero waste alternatives to false solutions
like waste-to-energy, which contribute to climate change and do nothing to
lessen the burgeoning global plastics crisis. Read more about the campaign
[17] and the full letter here [16].

UPCOMING EVENTS

[18]

★ November PPC Webinar: Emmy-Winning Film The Story of Plastic: A
Conversation with Filmmaker & Frontline Activists (Nov. 10) [18]
In this webinar, we go behind the scenes with NIKHILESH PALIATH AND
PRISCILLA VILLA WATT, two of the heroes featured in the Emmy-winning
documentary film _The Story of Plastic_ together in conversation, moderated
by STIV WILSON, co-producer and visionary behind the film. Together they
will discuss the current state of the plastic pollution crisis two years
after the documentary’s debut, focusing on the environmental and social
justice elements of the film and the nexus of plastic pollution and human
rights. They will also discuss the breakneck pace at which the
petrochemical buildout is harming communities around the world as
single-use plastic products spread into new global markets. Sign up for the
webinar here [18].

We encourage you to watch _The Story of Plastic_ FOR FREE [15]ahead of the
webinar!

★ Green Spark Group Sustainable Production Forum - Life Imitates Art:
Visualizing a World Free of Plastic Pollution (Oct. 25-29) [19]
Tune in on Friday, October 29, 2021 as PPC co-founders Dianna & Julia Cohen
join a panel discussion with SAG-AFTRA president, actor, and activist Fran
Drescher; actor, director, and author Eg Begley Jr.; and Dana Weinstein,
Project Specialist for the Media Impact Project at the Norman Lear Center,
USC; as they discuss the impacts of plastic pollution and visualize a world
free of it. THIS PANEL IS PART OF THE SUSTAINABLE PRODUCTION FORUM [19],
which takes place Oct. 25-29. The event is hosted by Green Spark Group [20]
and is called the World's Premier Event for Greening Motion Picture [21].
Register here [19].

★ Web Summit 2021 Lisbon Portugal (Nov. 1-4)
In collaboration with Web Summit [22], Plastic Pollution Coalition is
supporting water refill stations throughout the convention center, on which
our logo and names will appear all four days of the conference. We will
also be presenting “_What's the Story With Plastic?_” on November 4 at
15:30–15:50 WET. In this session, Deia Schlosberg, Emmy-winning director
of _The Story of Plastic_, joins Plastic Pollution Coalition CEO and
Co-Founder Dianna Cohen and big wave surfer Garrett McNamara as they
discuss “what the hell to do with plastic.” Moderated by José Pedro
Frazão Rádio Renascença.

★ Students for Zero Waste Conference (PLAN) (Nov. 5-7) [23]
The Post-Landfill Action Network’s Students for Zero Waste [23] (SZW)
Conference will take place virtually November 5-7, 2021. Since 2014, SZW
has brought together students, staff, industry innovators, activists, and
community members each Fall. Attendees will gain programmatic and
skills-building knowledge through student and industry professional panels,
explore innovative campus solutions through a Digital Student Project
Gallery, and make change in your own communities. Check out
postlandfill.org/szw [23] to learn more and register!

NEW RESOURCES & REPORTS

[24]

★ Break Free From Plastic Corporate Brand Audits Name Coca-Cola as Top
Plastic Polluter Globally for Fourth Year in a Row [7]
Other top polluters are PepsiCo, Unilever, Nestlé, and Procter & Gamble.
“This report [7] is a collaboration of Break Free From Plastic members,
allies and all 11,184 volunteers who conducted 440 brand audits across 45
countries. Together, they collected 330,493 pieces of plastic waste, 58% of
which was marked with a clear consumer brand.” Read the full report here.
[7]

★ Center For International Environmental Law (CIEL) Releases
Investigative Report on Formosa Plastics: A Serial Offender of
Environmental & Human Rights [25]
“The world is in the middle of a plastics and petrochemicals boom that is
both disastrous from a health and environmental perspective and foolish
from a financial and economic one. The Taiwanese conglomerate Formosa
Plastics Group (FPG or Formosa Plastics) is the fourth-largest producer of
plastics and petrochemicals worldwide. The company’s six-decade-long
history is emblematic of the profound risks that the plastic and
petrochemicals industry poses to health, local ecosystems, human rights,
and the global climate.” Read the full report here.

★ Beyond Plastics report: The New Coal: Plastics and Climate Change
Is Plastic the new coal? Beyond Plastic’s latest report _The New Coal:
Plastics and Climate Change [26]_ explores the rarely acknowledged link
between the lifecycle of plastic from extraction to disposal and climate
change. “As of 2020, the U.S. plastics industry is responsible for at
least 232 million tons of CO2e gas emissions per year. This amount is
equivalent to the average emissions from 116 average-sized (500-megawatt)
coal-fired power plants.” Read the report here.

★ UN Report - The Stages of the Plastics Cycle and Their Impacts on Human
Rights [27]
On October 20, 2021, UN Special Rapporteur on Toxic and Human Rights,
Marcos Orellana, presented a report [28] focused on plastics and human
rights at the UN General Assembly. The report demonstrated how plastic,
throughout its lifecycle, impacts and has negative effects on
internationally recognized human rights - such as the rights to life, to
health, to a healthy environment, to housing, to access to safe water, etc.
The report also addressed the need for vulnerable groups to have access to
participate in decision-making as a means of ensuring accountability. Read
the report [29], watch the full presentation [28], and read CIEL's response
[27].

★ Surfrider Foundation releases Bioplastics Toolkit [30]
Not all items labeled as compostable truly are. Now Surfrider Foundation
has released a new toolkit where consumers can check before they purchase
which items are truly compostable and which contribute to microplastics
entering the environment. Access the toolkit here. [30]

★ As You Sow - 2021 Corporate Plastic Pollution Scorecard [31]
While this latest report [31] from As You Sow makes evident the efforts
companies and corporations are beginning to take to reduce plastic
pollution, it is also clear that much more needs to be done. It is up to
investors, policymakers, and the public to hold Coca-Cola and other
companies in this report [31] accountable for actually meeting their
targets and taking tangible action to reduce the enormous plastic mess
already in our oceans and avert the chilling predictions of massive future
pollution.

★ Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives (GAIA): [32]Waste
Colonialism Arrives In Latin America [32]
“Between January and August 2020, the United States shipped 44,173 tons
of plastic waste, the same tonnage as almost 300 blue whales, to 15 Latin
American countries, approximately 35 containers per day. An investigative
report by GAIA LAC (Latin America and the Caribbean) members reveals the
untold story of how the U.S. is exporting its plastic problems to Latin
America–disregarding international and national laws–and the harm that
it’s causing to the Latin American people and environment. Read the
executive summary here.

★ CONNECT WITH US
Send us an email! [33] We would love to hear from you.

* Are you a coalition member? Please send us your updates. [34]

* Not a member yet? Click here to join. [35]
* Search the member directory [36] to find organization and business
members in your area.

YOUR DONATION MAKES A DIFFERENCE.

DONATE [37]

#PLASTICPOLLUTES

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PLASTIC POLLUTION COALITION is a growing global alliance of individuals,
organizations, businesses, and policymakers working toward a more just,
equitable world free of plastic pollution and its toxic impacts on humans,
animals, waterways, oceans, and the environment. Plastic Pollution
Coalition is a project of Earth Island Institute, a 501(c)3, non-profit
organization, organized and existing under the laws of California (Federal
Tax ID #94-2889684).

PLASTIC POLLUTION COALITION
4401A Connecticut Avenue NW #143
Washington, DC 20008
[email protected]
(323) 936-3010

SUBSCRIBE [42] | UNSUBSCRIBE [43]

Copyright © 2021 Plastic Pollution Coalition



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