Dear John,

April 22 is Earth Day, and with it comes some exciting news. Earlier this month, Yelp announced it has partnered with Plastic Pollution Coalition to bring new searchable attributes onto the Yelp platform, including “Plastic-free packaging,” “Provides reusable tableware,” “Bring your own container allowed,” and more. The new attributes will allow people to easily find more sustainable businesses like plastic-free eateries, bars, and cafes that support our values of thriving communities and a healthy, livable planet. Learn more about how consumers can use the attributes, and how businesses can add them.

National Parks Week runs through April 24, and the federal Reducing Waste in National Parks Act has picked up additional sponsorship in Congress. Nearly 77,000 citizens have already petitioned The Department of Interior to eliminate the sale and distribution of single-use plastics throughout the National Park Service, and you can add your name.

On Wednesday, April 27, we will host an empowering webinar focusing on turning eco-anxiety into eco-action. The panel will be moderated by Heather White, CEO & Co-Founder of One Green Thing and author of One Green Thing: Discover Your Hidden Power to Help Save the Planet and will feature three-time TED Speaker and CEO of Maya’s Ideas, Maya Penn; and Dr. Britt Wray, Human and Planetary Health Fellow, Stanford University, and author of Generation Dread. Sign up here for the webinar.

Finally, we’re thrilled to announce that Erica Cirino has joined the PPC team as our new Communications Manager. Erica is the author of Thicker Than Water: The Quest for Solutions to the Plastic Crisis and was also a panelist on our October 2021 webinar. Please join us in giving a very warm welcome to Erica!

Onward together,

Dianna Cohen
Co-Founder & CEO
Plastic Pollution Coalition

P.S. For Earth Day, we hope you will celebrate by supporting Plastic Pollution Coalition with a generous gift to help us ramp up our work. Thanks for everything you do for the Earth and for PPC!

★ FREE e-Book: Ahimsa’s Guide to (Mostly) Plastic-Free Mealtime
In honor of Earth Day, Plastic Pollution Coalition member business Ahimsa is offering a beautiful new e-book, Ahimsa's Guide to (Mostly) Plastic-Free Mealtime, for free. The guide was produced by PPC Scientific Advisor Dr. Manasa Mantravadi, a member of the American Academy of Pediatrics Environmental Board, and gives simple solutions to use less plastic during your daily food routine. Ahimsa is additionally offering a 25% discount to PPC members and partners on their Mindfulness Mealtime Sets. Use promo code EARTH25 at checkout to redeem.

★ Youth Get “Louder” on Climate with Grammy Winner Keb’ Mo’
Plastic Pollution Coalition and global youth climate activists teamed up with Keb’ Mo’, 5-time Grammy award-winning American Blues musician and songwriter, to create a video for his song “Louder,” to amplify their message—that we need climate action and we need it now. Watch and share the video.

★ Yelp Adds “Plastic-Free Packaging” and More Attributes
Yelp partnered with Plastic Pollution Coalition to bring new searchable attributes onto the Yelp platform, including “Plastic-free packaging,” “Provides reusable tableware,” “Bring your own container allowed,” and more. Yelp users can find the sustainability attributes on business pages listed under the “Amenities and more” section on Yelp.com or the “Info” section in Yelp’s iOS or Android app, as well as highlighted on business listings in applicable search results. Learn more.

★ Restaurant Owners: Check Out the Updated PPC Plastic-Free Eateries Guide
As a business owner, there’s a lot you can do to make it easier for your eco-conscious customers to avoid getting a side of plastic with their meal and contribute to the larger cultural shift needed to solve the plastic pollution crisis. Check out the Updated PPC Plastic-Free Eateries Guide to learn more.

★ Corporations Recycle Greenwashing Messaging for Earth Day
It seems like every Earth Day, the top corporate plastic polluters launch new campaigns where they tell us that cleanups and recycling will solve the plastic pollution crisis. But plastic is pollution from the moment it is created, and we cannot recycle our way out of the crisis. Check out the great article by Kathryn Lundstrom about Coca-Cola’s latest ad, Coca-Cola Wants You to Recycle Soda Bottles. That Won't Keep Plastics Out of Your Body, as well as “Plastics Recycling is a LIE,” the new video by our partners at Beyond Plastics.

★ “Bag It” Recommended to Educators and Advocates for Earth Day
The award-winning PBS documentary "Bag It," the environmental film about the overuse of plastic film, is being recommended to educators and advocates to screen in the classroom or in your community in honor of Earth Day. The screening license includes a curriculum packet designed by educators to delve deeper into the issues and a screening tool kit. The film is available through New Day Films, on DVD, or as a 1-year, 3-year, or Life-of-File streaming license.

★ Sign On to Support the Reducing Waste in National Parks Act
Earlier this year, nearly 70,000 citizens petitioned the Department of Interior to eliminate the sale and distribution of single-use plastics throughout the National Park Service, an initiative that is supported by over 80% of voting Americans. Sign the petition now to tell your member of Congress to make our national parks plastic-free spaces and protect our most beloved public lands, waterways, wildlife, and oceans.

★ Tell Hollywood to End Single-Use Plastics On Screen
Studies have shown how cigarette exposure through on-screen smoking in movies increases smoking rates—and it is evident that single-use plastic on screen further normalizes our problematic throwaway society. Our partners at Habits of Waste have made it possible with one click to send an email to The Producers Guild, The Writers Guild, The Directors Guild, The Screen Actors Guild, IATSE, The Art Directors Guild, and the biggest studios in Hollywood to request that they eliminate single-use plastics on screen. You can also download the USC Annenberg Norman Lear Center report, “Flip The Script: Can Hollywood Help Us Imagine a Future Without Plastic?” and learn more about the PPC initiative to Flip the Script on Plastics in entertainment.

★ Support the Break Free From Plastic Pollution Act
The Break Free From Plastic Pollution Act builds on successful statewide laws across the U.S. and outlines practical plastic reduction strategies to realize a healthier, more sustainable, and more equitable future. Sign on to support meaningful legislation to address the plastic pollution crisis.

★ Tell Amazon: Stop Polluting Our Planet with Plastic Packaging!
Oceana’s recent report reveals that Amazon generated an estimated 599 million pounds of plastic packaging waste in 2020, with up to 23.5 million pounds of this plastic waste entering the world’s waterways and seas. Find out more and sign our petition to tell Amazon to stop polluting our planet with plastic packaging.

★ April 27 Webinar—The Power of Service: Moving from Anxiety to Action for the Planet
Every day we are faced with news of climate change, the global plastics crisis, depletion of the rainforest, economic injustice, war, and more. With so many imminent threats to our environment and world happening all at once, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed. But there are solutions and there is hope! Join us on April 27 for a webinar focused on how to move from climate anxiety towards climate action. This discussion will be moderated by Heather White, the CEO & Co-Founder of One Green Thing, author of One Green Thing: Discover Your Hidden Power to Help Save the Planet, and Executive Advisory Board Member of Plastic Pollution Coalition. Panelists include: Maya Penn, Three-Time TED Speaker and CEO of Maya’s Ideas; and Dr. Britt Wray, Human and Planetary Health Fellow, Stanford University, and author of Generation Dread. Sign up here to join the webinar or be sent the link to the recording afterwards.

★ April 21 Yelp Earth Day Expert Panel
Yelp will host a panel discussion on sustainability for employees and members of the public on April 21 at 10 am PST. The panel will be moderated by Amy Sezak, SVP, Corporate Communications, and will feature Dianna Cohen, Co-Founder and CEO of Plastic Pollution Coalition, Jackie Nuñez, Founder of The Last Plastic Straw and Advocacy & Engagement Manager at Plastic Pollution Coalition, Jennifer Savage of Surfrider's Plastic Pollution Initiative, and Samantha Sommer, Upstream's Director of Business Innovation. Sign up.

We're hiring! We currently have three open positions:

• Coalition Program Manager
  
• Operations & Finance Coordinator
  
• Development & Events Coordinator
  

Please check them out and pass them along to anyone you know who might be interested.