Supporter,

I love the holiday season from the music and decorations to the opportunities to give and give back.

One thing I don't love? All the plastic. Single-use plastic bags pouring out of shopping malls and supermarkets. Artificial trees. Toy packaging contributes to the 25% of additional trash Americans put into landfills between Thanksgiving and New Year's.¹

Of course, our reliance on single-use plastics gives a GIANT gift to Big Oil—not just during the holidays but all year-round. As global demand for fossil fuels dips, Big Oil is betting on plastics to be their new area of growth.²

We need to call Big Oil's bluff—by educating the public about the perils and injustices of plastic pollution while pushing for a zero-waste future. Will you help us end America's "use and throw" culture by becoming a Wilderness Guardian today? Generous donors have offered to match your first three gifts, so don't wait. And don't forget your reusable Trail Cooler Tote!

Long after the holiday gifts have been opened and families have gathered to enjoy festive meals, microplastics will be with us—in the depths of the ocean…the guts of sea turtles…in Arctic snow and Antarctic ice. Researchers have found microplastics in remote, even uninhabited areas like the Fram Strait that borders Greenland and the depths of the Grand Canyon.

And it's not just plant and animal life that are affected—experts estimate humans eat a credit card-sized amount of plastic every week. That includes microplastics believed to leach bisphenol A—which studies show can lead to reduced fertility—and styrene³, a chemical linked to hearing loss, cancer, and neurological problems.

Will you help give future generations a plastic-free future this holiday season? Please support Sierra Club's work to educate consumers to avoid plastic consumption through bottles and straws...urge government bodies to ban plastic bags…keep plastic bottle trash out of our national parks…support local partners in their fights to expose the disproportionate damage done by petrochemical companies to communities of color…and more.⁴ 

ACT NOW: Help us reach our critical year-end goal—and hold Big Oil accountable for plastics pollution—by becoming a Wilderness Guardian now, when you can DOUBLE your first three monthly gifts thanks to our generous donors.

With your support, the Sierra Club has gotten pretty good at taking on the fossil fuel industry—retiring nearly 350 coal-fired power plants and stopping construction of the Keystone XL pipeline.

We can win the fight against Big Plastic, too—but it will take all of us, working together, doing our part to change human habits and lessen Big Oil's grip on consumers and corporations alike. Help us end the plastics crisis that is smothering our oceans and poisoning communities around the world by becoming a Wilderness Guardian today.

Happy Holidays,
  
Michael Bosse
National Program Director
Sierra Club

P.S. Want a gift that will save plastic this year? Give your friends and loved ones a Sierra Club Gift Membership and you'll invest in a brighter future for us all.

¹ https://www.indystar.com/story/news/environment/2019/12/02/heres-how-keep-having-trashy-holiday-season-literally/4260180002/
² https://www.vox.com/energy-and-environment/21419505/oil-gas-price-plastics-peak-climate-change
³ https://www.indystar.com/story/news/environment/2019/12/02/heres-how-keep-having-trashy-holiday-season-literally/4260180002/
⁴ https://www.sierraclub.org/articles/2021/11/deep-injustice-plastic-pollution