Plastic—a material invented to last forever—can no longer
be used to make products intended to be thrown away.
There is no away.
The Great Pacific Garbage Patch spans waters from the West Coast of North America to Japan.
“The Great Recycling Con” NYT Op-Ed Video
Single-Use Plastics: A Road Map to Sutainability (UN Environment) A worldwide view with case studies and good info.
You Can Help Turn the Tide on Plastics (Not only has National Geographic written extensively on the plastics problem, but they have given up the plastic wrapper on their magazines sent to subscribers.)
Recycling is Not Enough (GAIA Report January 2018) We can’t recycle our way out of plastic pollution.
Earth Day Network – Disposable Plastics
Earth Day Plastic Pollution Primer and Action Toolkit
Plastics Pile up as China Refuses to take the West’s Recycling – NYT – Jan 11, 2018
Microplastic pollution pushing baleen whales to brink of extinction
BAN: Better Alternatives Now Enumerates the top 20 polluting products and packaging in the United States.
10 Ways to Use Less Plastic Every Day
Plastic Pollution Coalition -Plastic is a substance the Earth cannot digest – Refuse Single Use Plastic
Toxic Plastics and How to Avoid Them
Break Free From Plastic – a global movement envisioning a future free from plastic pollution.
Is Your Cup Compostable – or Biodegradable?
100 Steps to a Plastic-free Life
A Whopping 91% of Plastic Isn’t Recycled
Story of Stuff video – Microplastics
Queen Bans Plastic Straws and Bottles on Royal Estates after David Attenborough Documentary
What is the Great Pacific Garbage Patch?
Alaska Airlines is the latest big company to ditch plastic straws. Here’s why we all should, too. Video
New to Buying in Bulk? The Upper Valley’s veteran bulk buyer, Samantha White, has some tips on how to shop in bulk with an eye toward zero waste.
How Fracked Gas, Cheap Oil, and Unburnable Coal are Driving the Plastics Boom. Center for International Environmental Law. 2017. “In the US, 264 new plastics-related facilities and expansions are currently planned to use gas from the shale fracking boom.”
“What’s called for now is a second industrial revolution in which speed and efficiency, the motors of the first industrial revolution, are replaced by a dedication to sustainability and social responsibility. Product designers, marketers, industry heads, trade groups, and—most important—consumers need to work together to create demand for new packaging solutions that use materials more planet-friendly than plastic.” – National Resources Defense Council
No Plastic Pollution 