Dear John,

Earlier this month, President Biden signed into law the most comprehensive U.S. climate legislation to date with the Inflation Reduction Act. Environmental and social justice groups expressed a range of responses to this legislation, from approval to opposition. Youth Leaders, including several PPC Youth Ambassadors, had authored a letter to Congress urging the House to pass the Inflation Reduction Act, but to not stop there. We continue to encourage lawmakers to not include provisions for harmful fossil fuel development, AND to pass legislation supporting the just, equitable, healthy world we need.

There are certainly challenges to going plastic free, but businesses like Pangea Organics are succeeding in creating high-quality, organically sourced products packaged in infinitely recyclable glass and aluminum containers. For our July webinar, we sat down with Pangea founder Joshua Onysko, as well as Plastic Free Future’s Alejandra Warren and Oceanic Global’s Cassia Patel, to discuss the challenges and opportunities of making your business plastic-free. Watch the recording.

We are excited to share our new website with you, which features the latest news, actions, events, and resources to help you stay informed and take action to stop plastic pollution and its toxic impacts. We would be very grateful if you would take a look at it and share your feedback in this brief survey by Friday, September 9, so we may continue making improvements to the site. We will randomly pick five people to receive a Plastic Pollution Coalition tote bag filled with a bunch of useful plastic-free goodies.

Finally, it’s back-to-school time for many students in the Northern Hemisphere, and preparing for the new school year doesn’t have to be filled with plastic wrappers, water bottles, pens, and other single-use plastics. Read our tips for going back to school plastic-free and learn how to save in the long run by purchasing non-toxic, reusable, and more durable products that last while not exposing your children to harmful plasticizing chemicals.

Together we are making a difference!

Julia Cohen, MPH
Co-Founder & Managing Director
Plastic Pollution Coalition

★ Go Back to School Plastic Free
With summer winding down in the Northern Hemisphere, it’s now back-to-school season for many. For parents and guardians, it’s an opportunity to equip your student with healthy plastic-free school supplies that minimize waste and maximize usefulness for the year ahead. What’s more, when well cared for, these non-toxic, non-plastic materials and products will last, meaning you spend less time and money on supplies in the long run. Read more here to find our list of go-to plastic-free school supplies, plus other tips for taking the plastic out of your student’s new school year.

★ Youth Leaders Urge Congress to Pass Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, But Don’t Stop There
Many environmental and social justice groups have reacted to the Inflation Reduction Act’s climate provisions, showing a range of stances from overwhelming approval to complete opposition. Some are in the middle, pointing out the benefits of such a large investment in clean energy, environmental justice, and remediation while emphasizing that, at present, the act appears to perpetuate harmful industry activities such as fossil fuel exploitation and mining. Read more.

★ The Challenges & Opportunities of Making Your Business Plastic Free
Starting and managing a business is hard work, and it can be especially challenging if you want to provide products and services that are not encased in toxic plastic. From skin & hair care products to food and cosmetics—plastic is so ubiquitous it can seem like the only option. Fortunately, it isn’t! On July 27, we sat down for a discussion with business owners who have succeeded in going plastic free. Hear them explain how they did it and how you can too. Watch here.

★ The Plastic Trap
Since 1950, more than 10 billion metric tons of plastics have been manufactured worldwide, with the most of it incorporated into the deadly global waste trade. Collectively, 79 percent of the plastic industries have made is piled up in landfills and scattered across the land and in the oceans. It’s turned out to be horrendously difficult to truly recycle plastic, with so many types, each category has to be separated out for its own process. As a result, less than 9 percent of plastic has been recycled; the rest has been incinerated or sent to landfills. Read more from our PPC Communications Manager and Author, Erica Cirino.

➤ Find more Latest News on our website.

★ Urge Trader Joe's to Drop Single-Use Plastic
Join PPC and Beyond Plastics and tell Trader Joe's to start offering plastic-free produce, bulk products, and alternative packaging. Individuals have little control over the plastic that producers like Trader Joe's put into the market—and less than 6% of plastic is recycled in the United States. Sign on here.

★ Important Bill in California needs YOUR help TODAY! 2 days left! Yes on SB 1137: End Neighborhood Drilling
Nearly three million Californians—mostly from Black, Brown, Indigenous, and low-income communities—live within 3,200 feet of an oil or gas well. The disproportionate health impacts experienced by families and individuals living in these communities is a case of environmental racism. Take action to end this injustice and protect our communities by calling on your California state legislators to vote YES on SB 1137 and institute a 3,200 foot buffer zone (or, setback) between oil and gas drilling operations and California communities.

★ Take part in a TRASH BLITZ at a U.S. National Park this summer!
Join PPC and 5 Gyres and activists across the U.S. to collect data on plastic pollution in U.S. national parks! Register your cleanup at any national park from now through September to contribute to a report that will reveal the materials, items, and brands of waste found across our national parks. These results will be used to support and guide legislation that keeps harmful single-use plastic out of our protected spaces. RSVP here.

★ 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.

➤ Find more Petitions on our website.

★ September Webinar - Crafting Hollywood Storylines That Flip the Script on Plastics
Join us on September 14 for a conversation led by Kate Folb, Director of Hollywood, Health & Society, as we discuss tips and tools to help scriptwriters seamlessly craft plastic-free and plastic-aware worlds. Fishtown Films’ Emily Gallagher & Austin Elston, the creative team behind the first ever zero-waste feature film “Citywide,” and Scott Z. Burns, one of the producers of “An Inconvenient Truth,” and the screenwriter behind “Contagion” and AppleTV+’s upcoming “Extrapolation,” will discuss the opportunities and challenges of going plastic free from the start—in the script. We’ll also hear how audiences can learn to recognize and appreciate when their favorite media creators are doing the work—and if they’re not, how they can encourage them to Flip the Script on Plastics. Register here.

★ Waste Colonialism Webinar Series - Latin America
On August 31, join Break Free From Plastic movement members from Mexico and Ecuador as they share their knowledge and expertise on the global waste trade and waste colonialism between the United States and Latin America. Waste colonialism manifests differently in distinct geographies and jurisdictions; this will be the first of a three-part series. Register here.

★ 7th International Marine Debris Conference (7IMDC)
From Sunday, September 18, to Friday, September 23, the International Marine Debris Conference (7IMDC) in Busan, Republic of Korea, will build on the momentum of past IMDCs by bringing together governments, industry, academia, civil society, and all relevant stakeholders, to discuss the latest science, strengthen collaborations, find solutions and catalyze action to address the urgent, global problem of marine litter and plastic pollution. Register here.

➤ Find more Upcoming Events on our website & submit an event.

★ Greenwash.com
Greenwashing: the business practice of falsifying or overstating the green credentials of a product, service or brand. Greenwashing tricks us into believing change is happening, when in reality it’s not. Greenwashing is increasingly widespread, and on this microsite you’ll find examples from fashion, plastics and food. Greenwash.com was created by the Changing Markets Foundation, a non-profit formed to accelerate and scale up solutions to sustainability challenges by leveraging the power of markets. Learn more.

★ The Reuse Portal
The Reuse Portal is an open collaborative platform providing users – whether innovators, businesses, policymakers, activists, consumers or citizens – convenient access to practical guidance, tools and networks to take action and drive momentum for reuse solutions. The shocking growth of plastic pollution is damaging our planet. Managing waste once it’s generated is not nearly enough. Reuse is critical to prevent waste upfront, and to shift away from a ‘make-take-waste’ system. Learn more.

➤ Find more Resources on our website & suggest a resource.

★ 2022 Jack Johnson Match Opportunity
Donations will be doubled now through October 15! We are excited to share that the Johnson Ohana Charitable Foundation is offering to match donations to Plastic Pollution Coalition (up to a total of $2,500). In addition, if you donate before September 9, you will be entered to win two tickets to one of the following Jack Johnson shows! Can’t make it? Share with a friend who can! And if you’re there, come visit the PPC table at the show to say hi. PPC is participating in the following Jack Johnson shows (2 tickets available to each):

• Sept. 28: Greek Theatre in Berkeley, CA
• Oct. 1: Hollywood Bowl in Santa Barbara, CA
• Oct. 7: North Island Credit Union Amphitheater in Chula Vista, CA