Ending the Era of Plastic Pollution

• Coalition
,
• Environment

Plastic pollution is a global crisis, and together we are rising up to solve it. As 2017 comes to a close, PPC offers this status update, including some of our achievements this year and where we are headed next:

• The first-ever jointly developed Global Plastic Reduction Toolkit has completed development of Phase 1, focused on resources to pass and implement plastic bag legislation. Phase 2, including the collection of polystyrene resources and development of a public online access portal, will launch in Q2 2018. The Toolkit will be presented at the International Marine Debris Conference in San Diego, CA, in March 2018.
• ReThink Plastic, PPC’s 18 month pilot study with Child Health and Development (CHD) Studies, funded by the California Breast Cancer Research Fund, will be completed in Q1 2018. First year results show significant behavior change was achieved from the study’s intervention approach. PPC is applying for a three year grant to expand dissemination in March 2018.
• In partnership with Made Safe, PPC has developed an online Healthy Baby Guide targeted at expecting and new parents, and launched December 2017, to inform, educate, and recommend products to reduce exposure to plastics and the chemicals used in plastics during this crucial time of development. An expanded social media campaign to promote the Healthy Baby Guide will begin in Q1 2018.
• In 2017, PPC’s The Last Plastic Straw campaign recruited over 500 restaurants and businesses to change their plastic straw policies and removed over 10 million straws from our waterways, oceans, and environment. 2018 will include an ambitious program to change law and policy, continue coordination of the global Straws Working Group, and increased public education with communities, schools, youth groups, and awareness through STRAWS film screenings, and coordinated straw-free days and months.
• By harnessing the power of art, video, and storytelling, the Plastic Pollution Citizen Action Hub has increased the reach of our message by more than 100 percent, reaching over 500,000 people per week through our website and social media. Original public service shorts Open Your Eyes and There Is No Away garnered more than 20 million views. PPC is producing new pieces on microplastics, plastic straws, and experimenting with instructional shorts, live streaming, and creating “Plastic Free Minute”  radio spots.
• The Plastic Free Island campaign model brings together Island and local stakeholders to reduce and eliminate single-use plastic such as straws, bottles, cups, and bags on islands and coastal communities around the globe. PPC has helped establish Plastic Free Island programs in Belize, Indonesia, Kefalonia (Greece) and St. John (U.S. Virgin Islands) and is working to make the model available to other islands and coastal communities, expanding across Greece and the Caribbean.
• In 2017, PPC elevated the issue of plastic pollution on the world stage through participation in the United Nations (UN) conference Our Ocean in Malta, and the 3rd UN Environment Assembly in Nairobi, Kenya (see our newsletter updates, Issues 1, 2, and 3). PPC will be participating in the 2018 6th International Marine Debris Conference hosted by UNEP and NOAA in San Diego, CA in March.
• PPC will partner again with Mission Blue, Oceanic Society, and Drifter’s Project to produce a second sailing expedition to study, observe, and document the impact of plastic pollution and ecotourism throughout Palau in November 2018. This will coincide with an education and policy program for Palau as a Plastic Free Island, in partnership with Heirs to Our Oceans.

This is the most ambitious PPC has ever been.

We invite you to be in on the ground floor with your end of year, tax-deductible gift to PPC .

Thank you for your support to protect human and animal health, waterways, the ocean, and our environment.

Take Action to stop plastic pollution.

Join our global Coalition.