“Olivia” -A two-woman play in NYC

February 27 , 3:00 pm – 5:00 pm EST

Award-winning playwright and human rights activist Catherine Filloux will premiere The Olivia Project with a one-performance staged reading of her new two-woman play OLIVIA on Friday, February 27, 2026, at 3 p.m. at The Studio Theatre, 520 Eighth Avenue, in Manhattan.

OLIVIA explores the collision of fossil fuel dependency and generational reckoning through the intimate relationship between a mother and daughter. Olivia Williamson and her mother, Lina, navigate their tenuous bond as Olivia—armed with a Stanford degree—refuses to accept the family myths her mother clings to. Through oil-spilled rainbows and blood-stained family trees, Olivia makes her way to the mountains, determined to challenge the forces that shaped her childhood, disrupting Lina’s worldview along the way. Blood may be thicker than water—but will Olivia discover that oil is thicker than both?

The reading will feature two well-known actresses and is produced by Xander Jackson, directed by Elena Araoz, with casting by Pat McCorkle.

Following the reading, invited guests will participate in a targeted conversation and call-to-action centered on climate accountability and policy advocacy, including support for the Packaging Reduction and Recycling Infrastructure Act.

Filloux, whose oceanographer father was the first to cross the Atlantic Ocean in a catamaran, has been a passionate advocate against plastic pollution from an early age.  Filloux’s partners on The Olivia Project include Climate Rights International, The Sabin Center for Climate Change Law at Columbia Law School, In The Same Boat (Norway), and F Minus.

The event is free of charge. Seating is limited and attendance is by RSVP only. Please RSVP to: selma65nyc@gmail.com

May 8, 2025 , 9:00 am – 11:30 am EST

About this event:

Maternal & Child Health in a Dangerous Climate: The Impact of Air Pollution, Plastics, & Heat on Women of Color will convene policy experts, healthcare professionals, environmental advocates, and media voices to establish the current state of maternal health for women of color. Speakers will discuss how multiplier threats like air pollution, extreme heat, and toxic chemicals in plastics negatively affect maternal and child health, and we’ll learn from policy experts and lawmakers about actions we can take to mobilize community and change policy to protect mothers and children from air pollution, extreme heat, and toxic chemicals in plastics.

Featured speaker: Rep. Lauren Underwood (IL)

Time:

May 8 @ 9:00 AM – 11:30 AM EST

Location:

Virtual, join from anywhere

Register Here

Wildfires themselves can be natural occurrences in dry forested areas, but the climate crisis coupled with plastic pollution is making these fires more dangerous, destructive, and frequent. Here’s what to know about plastic chemicals in wildfire smoke—and precautions you can take to stay safe.

Plastic Increases the Dangers of Already Toxic Wildfire Smoke

Breathing in wildfire smoke can cause immediate health issues, including asthma attacks, chest pain, coughing, difficulty breathing, fatigue, headaches, itchy throat, irritation in sinuses, rapid heartbeat, runny nose, stinging eyes, and wheezing. People at the greatest risk of experiencing these and other health problems from wildfire smoke include children and pregnant people, as well as people with chronic health conditions, such as asthma, COPD, diabetes, and heart or kidney disease. Responders such as firefighters are also at greater risk of harm. 

Wildfire smoke typically contains a mixture of gases, water vapor, particle pollution, and toxic compounds known as hazardous air pollutants. Hazardous air pollutants are known or suspected to cause cancer or other serious health effects, including birth defects and fertility and reproductive problems. While some hazardous air pollutants are created when natural materials, such as wood from trees or vegetation, are burned, many come from the burning of plastic.

Today, most modern buildings, homes, and furniture are made primarily from plastics. Plastic appliances, plastic foam mattresses, chairs, and couches covered in plastic fabric; plastic rugs, and other furnishings; to plastic flooring, paints, PVC pipes, roofing, siding, and other building materials are widely used. Both personal and public vehicles are largely made of plastics, and so are synthetic lawns and decking, patio furniture, pools, sheds, and other outdoor items like tools and equipment. The result is a landscape largely made of plastic. 

When wildfires burn through urban and suburban areas, all of these plastics are open-burned, releasing some of the most toxic chemicals into already dangerous wildfire smoke. Plastics contain any mixture of more than 16,000 chemicals, at least 4,200 of which are already known to be toxic to people and the environment. Many of these chemicals are known endocrine disruptors, meaning they interfere with the body’s normal hormone function and can cause serious health problems, especially in children and pregnant people. When burned, some of the most dangerous chemicals that plastics release include:

  • Bisphenols: linked to cancer; developmental, learning, and behavior issues; heart disease; infertility and reproductive problems; metabolic disorders like diabetes and obesity
  • Dioxins: linked to cancer, developmental problems, liver and other organ damage, skin irritation
  • Furans: linked to birth defects, cancer, immune system disease, organ damage, neurological problems, 
  • Heavy metals: heart problems, respiratory difficulties, and damage to the kidneys and other organs, and bones
  • Nitrogen oxides: reactive compounds that can form fine particulate pollution that embeds itself deep in the lungs, causing severe respiratory diseases like emphysema and bronchitis; can aggravate pre-existing heart problems, leading to early death
  • Phthalates: hormone-disrupting chemicals linked to cancer, early puberty, heart and respiratory problems, immune system diseases, infertility and poor birth outcomes, metabolic problems, neurological and behavioral problems
  • Polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), such as benzo(a)pyrene: linked to cancer, and can cause respiratory and skin irritation
  • Sulfur dioxide: severe irritant to eyes, nose, respiratory tract, skin, and throat
  • Volatile organic chemicals (VOCs), such as benzene: linked to cancer; irritation of eyes, nose, throat; damage of liver, kidneys, central nervous system

What’s more, plastic containers holding cleaning agents, gasoline, pesticides, and other dangerous substances contribute even more toxic substances into the air, and can further fuel fires. Research has shown that microplastics are also released into the air when burned, along with wildfire ash and other particulate pollution. Microplastics have been found throughout the human body, and are known to cause respiratory health problems. Children, whose developing lungs are most sensitive to breathing in particulate matter in the air, are at the greatest risk of adverse health effects from toxic wildfire smoke.

What the Air Quality Index Measures—and What It Doesn’t

Wildfire smoke can travel for hundreds of miles, reducing air quality near and far away from burning fires. Officials often recommend that people living in areas affected by wildfire smoke check local air quality reports. The US Government’s AirNow Air Quality Index (AQI) measures particulate matter (PM) and shows local levels of PM 10—larger particles with a diameter of 10 micrometers or less—and PM 2.5—tiny particles with a diameter of less than 2.5 micrometers, which are the most dangerous because their small size allows them to penetrate deeper into the lungs. 

Home air quality monitors may or may not monitor other sources of air pollution in addition to ozone and PM, including VOCs, radon, and carbon monoxide—making them an imperfect tool to understand the full range of air pollutants present indoors. Wildfire smoke can get into your home, even when windows and doors are kept closed. 

While these measurements can be a useful way for some people to understand the levels of ozone and PM in local air, they do not indicate risks of the full range of wildfire smoke pollutants. Ozone and PM are considered everyday pollutants, while the pollutants in wildfire smoke include complex mixtures of chemicals. Further, wildfire conditions and smoke cover can change rapidly, and there can be a lag in real-time air quality data.

Wildfire ash and chemical residues can persist in the environment long after fires and smoke have cleared. High winds, rain, and other weather events can re-expose individuals in areas affected by fire to pollutants.

How to Protect Yourself

  • Experts recommend that adults wear a fitted N-95 mask when outdoors to properly filter particles in polluted air. Note that experts say facial hair can affect the way N-95 masks fit, potentially making them less effective.
    • Check your local libraries and health centers for mask distribution.
    • Cloth masks are not recommended, since smoke particles collect in the material and are breathed in continuously.
    • Surgical masks are also not recommended, since their looser fit allows too much air to get in without being filtered.
  • For children, because N-95 masks are not fitted to their smaller faces, it is important to keep young people indoors in “clean rooms” and avoid bringing them outside during and after wildfires.
  • Consider wearing eyewear when outdoors (like safety goggles), gloves, and a change of clothes, including shoes.
    • It’s recommended to take off all clothes and shoes worn outside before coming indoors.
  • Stay indoors as much as possible and keep all windows closed.
    • Seal gaps around windows and doors.
    • Use HEPA air filter purifiers when possible.
    • Do not exercise or perform strenuous activities, which can draw polluted air deeper into your lungs.

Resources for People Affected by the 2025 Los Angeles Wildfires

The wildfires in Los Angeles County that began on January 7, 2025,  are particularly intense, forcing tens of thousands of people to evacuate their homes, killing dozens, and polluting the air breathed by millions across Southern California. More than a week later, as of January 16, the series of fires burning across the county are only partially contained. Our hearts go out to those hurt by this climate-fueled crisis. Here are some additional resources for people in the Los Angeles area:

Take Action

All of us, even those who are not immediately impacted by wildfires, face increasing health risks from our increasingly plastic- and chemical-filled landscape and culture. It is crucial that our government representatives protect people and the planet by holding polluters accountable with better pollution monitoring and regulation, and by mandating a drastic reduction in plastic and chemical production globally. A strong UN Plastics Treaty would expedite this necessary systems shift. Urge the leaders of the world’s biggest plastic polluting country—the US Government—to support such an agreement to end plastic pollution today.

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November 13, 2024 , 1:00 pm – November 15, 2024 , 4:00 pm EST

Join Just Zero for their inaugural Waste-Free Future Summit from November 13–15, 2024. Over the course of three days, you’ll have the opportunity to participate in five free, virtual sessions.

Each session highlights innovative tools and successful strategies that communities across the country can utilize to tackle our waste crisis. Throughout the Summit, Just Zero staff members will be joined by prominent Zero Waste experts, activists, and communicators from across the United States. That includes Diane Wilson, keynote speaker, author, activist, and executive director of San Antonio Bay Estuarine Waterkeeper.

Learn more and register here

Related Events

Guest author: Lars Jansen is the co-owner of SWOP – Shop Without Plastic, a zero-waste online marketplace and blog.

Plastic pollution and climate change are two of the biggest environmental challenges facing our planet today. Many people don’t realize that the two issues are closely linked. 

With rising pressure to address climate change and declining demand for fossil fuels, plastic production has become the de facto plan B for the oil industry. In fact, oil giant BP expects plastic to represent 95% of the net growth in demand for oil until 2040.

As a result, the industry is successfully using its strong network to push the production of virgin plastics. By lobbying against plastic regulations and marketing false solutions like recycling, the oil lobby aims to protect their plastic-related revenue streams.

While fossil fuels are already widely regarded as the major culprit behind climate change, plastic often flies under the radar. Global yearly plastic production is already close to 500 million tons and is expected to triple in the next four decades. It is time for regulators to see climate change and plastic pollution as interconnected issues and stop this vicious cycle of environmental pollution.

How Plastic Directly Contributes To Climate Change

99% of plastics are made from fossil fuels, and their production is an energy-intensive process. From extraction of the oil and gas to refining and manufacturing, every step of the production process releases greenhouse gases (GHG).

A study from the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory found that in 2019 plastic production alone emitted 2.2 billion metric tons of GHG into the atmosphere, accounting for 5.4% of total global GHG emissions. That same year, the aviation and shipping industry accounted for 1.3 billion tons of emissions—less than plastic production.

The researchers project that at current growth rates, plastic production could contribute between 21% and 31% of total global GHG by 2050.

If you add in transportation, the impact of the industry is even greater.

The global nature of plastic supply chains means that a single plastic item may have traveled thousands of miles before ending up on a shelf, leaving a substantial carbon impact along the way. Here is an example of how this could unfold:

  1. Crude oil is extracted from offshore oil fields in the Gulf of Mexico
  2. The crude oil is transported to refineries in Texas with oil tankers
  3. The oil is processed at the refinery into key petrochemical products for plastic production (e.g., petroleum naphtha)
  4. The petrochemicals are then shipped to a “cracking” plant in another state to produce ethylene and for polymerization
  5. The polyethylene is formed into small pellets and transported to a manufacturing hub in China
  6. The factory in China molds the pellets into the final product (e.g., water bottles)
  7. The final product is shipped to retailers worldwide

A report from the Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL) estimates that 12.5 to 13.5 million metric tons of carbon dioxide are emitted as a result of the transportation and extraction of natural gas in the U.S. to make feedstocks for plastics in the country.

That alone is equivalent of the yearly emissions from 2.7 million cars.

Not only does the plastic supply chain mostly rely on traditional modes of transportation based on fossil fuels, but it is also prone to environmental pollution along the way—like the environmental disaster that unfolded in East Palestine, Ohio, when train cars derailed that carried toxic chemicals for plastic production.

When they have reached their end of life, plastic products again emit GHG when they are incinerated. Controlled burning of plastic packaging alone adds 16 million tons of GHG per year, enough to power 2.6 million homes. This does not account for open burning in developing countries, which releases highly toxic GHG.

Unfortunately, the impact of plastic on climate change does not stop with these direct impacts.

How Plastic Indirectly Contributes to Climate Change

Plastic pollution severely impacts ecosystems, especially in the marine environment. 

But did you know that plastic hinders the marine ecosystem in its ability to act as a carbon sink?

Healthy oceans play a crucial role in extracting and storing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. When plastic waste harms marine life and ecosystems, it diminishes the ability of involved organisms to mitigate global warming by sequestering carbon. 

An example of a threatened species in the ocean is plankton. Plankton are tiny organisms that (some of them) perform photosynthesis, producing oxygen and organic material.

The microorganisms are tremendously important for controlling the worlds’ climate. While phytoplankton biomass in the world’s oceans amounts to only ∽1–2% of the total global plant carbon, these organisms process between 30 and 50 billion metric tons of carbon annually, which is about 40% of the total.

Numerous scientific studies have found evidence that microplastics infiltrate plankton and limit their ability to store carbon and transport it deep into the ocean.

Finally, researchers found evidence that the extent of ocean plastic pollution has reached a point where it not only impacts organisms, but also alters the age-old physical forces that regulate the world climate.

Namely, there is evidence that plastic pollution alters the so-called Albedo effect. The Albedo effect is a measure for how much light a surface reflects. Bright surfaces like ice and snow will generally reflect more sunlight back into the atmosphere, while darker surfaces absorb more sunlight (imagine wearing a white or black t-shirt in summer). Researchers found that plastic pollution, especially in the form of microplastics, can lead to quicker snow melt in polar and glacial regions. When the darker plastic particles mix with the bright snow and ice, they absorb more sunlight and heat up, leading to a quicker snowmelt. While further research is required to quantify the extent of this effect, the initial results are worrying.

The Path Ahead

Addressing the complex issues of climate change and plastic pollution together requires a concerted effort by regulators, businesses, international organizations, and consumers. 

Many global examples have shown that stricter policies on single-use plastic and promoting sustainable alternatives can remarkably reduce pollution. This needs to be accompanied by investments in improved waste management and consumer education. Businesses need to be held accountable for their plastic footprint. The United States, European Union, and China have successfully implemented initial systems for Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR), which require producers to take responsibility for the entire life cycle of their plastic products.

These EPR systems need to be expanded and enforced with the respective financial penalties to increase the responsibility of the world’s biggest polluters. If you want to make an impact as an individual, make sure to check out Plastic Pollution Coalition’s current petitions and guides. There’s also a great one-pager on the Plastics + Climate connection you can read and share.

Take Action

An abundance of fracked gas now represents a growing share of the fossil fuels and their byproducts that are being turned into plastics. The result is that, without urgent action, annual plastic production is expected to triple by 2060 to 1.2 billion metric tons. 

Hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking”—the dangerous and polluting process of injecting highly pressurized and toxic chemicals, sand, and water deep into the Earth to release and extract once hard-to-reach oil and gas—is expected to increase as it has over the past few decades, especially in the U.S. The fracking boom, driven largely by increasing production of plastics, harms people living near fracking infrastructure and activities, pollutes the environment, and releases climate-warming greenhouse gases.

Plastics Are Fossil Fuels

Ninety nine percent of plastics are made from fossil fuels, and the fossil fuel industry has invested heavily in plastic production. Plastics have been identified as the industry’s “Plan B”: If they can’t burn it, they’ll turn it into plastics. Producing plastics requires significant amounts of fossil fuel energy. For example, a single 1-liter bottle of water consumes ¼ liter of oil for its production, transportation, and disposal. Essentially, plastic pollution is the world’s biggest oil—and gas—spill, because it is everywhere. 

In 2018, production of petrochemicals and plastics accounted for about 14% of oil and 8% of gas demand, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA). By 2050, it’s expected that production of petrochemicals and plastics will account for ~50% of oil demand and 58% of gas demand, as demand for oil and gas as energy sources shrinks. Fracking for gas in particular produces a lot of ethane, which is used to make ethylene—an ingredient in several types of single-use plastics, including polyethylene, for packaging like bottles, films, and sachets. As fracking has boomed, so has production of polyethylene. Sociologist Rebecca Altman has called this polyethylene packaging derived from fracked gas “frackaging.”

Plastics are a climate issue: Despite the urgent need to cut our reliance on fossil fuels, increasing production of plastics threatens the chances of keeping global temperature rise below the critical 1.5°C threshold. Plastics emit climate-warming greenhouse gases throughout their existence, from the moment their fossil fuel ingredients are extracted, refined, transported, and stored; through plastic production, shipping, use, and disposal. Plastic items and microplastics are known to release greenhouse gases as they accumulate in nature.

Fracking Is Part of the Poison Plastic Pipeline

Fracking infrastructure is extensive and toxic, and is directly connected to the poison plastic pipeline. It includes:

  • Compressor stations: a network of machines used to increase the pressure of gas so it can flow through pipelines
  • Sand mines: mines used to extract sand from the Earth to use for fracking 
  • Pipelines: large transmission and gathering lines that bring fossil fuels from well sites to processing facilities and storage and shipping sites
  • Processing, storage, and refining facilities: plants that provide the chemical and mechanical processes necessary to turn fossil fuels into petrochemicals and plastics; this includes the growing number of ethane cracker plants (including the Shell Polymers Monaca plant in Beaver County, Pennsylvania, pictured above) 
  • Pumping stations: diesel-powered equipment that pumps fracking chemicals, sand, and water into fracking wells
  • Wells: deep drawing holes drilled thousands of feet into the ground to reach an oil or gas reservoir, which then turn horizontally (sometimes for up to 4 miles) to intersect with an oil or gas reservoir; and also “Class II wells,” including wastewater disposal wells, enhanced oil recovery wells, and enhanced oil recovery wells 

This infrastructure and its related activities create pollution and release greenhouse gases, endangering people and the planet.

Fracking Harms Human Health

Currently, U.S. rules around fracking do not require fracking well operators to be transparent about what chemicals they are using when they drill. Yet, many fracking chemicals that have been identified are known to be harmful to human health. They include benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylene, which are linked to cancer, immune system disorders, nervous system damage, and respiratory problems like asthma. Fracking contaminates groundwater—threatening communities’ drinking water sources—as well as air and soil. Fracking wastewater released during fracking is toxic and radioactive. Yet, some states, including Pennsylvania and Ohio, have allowed oil and gas companies to use this wastewater to de-ice and suppress dust on roads.

Short-term exposure to air pollutants from fracking activities are connected to coughing, dizziness, eye and skin irritation, headaches, nausea, nosebleeds, shortness of breath, and other health issues. Pregnant women’s long-term exposure to fracking activities and pollution is linked to low birth weights and heart defects in children, as well as preterm birth. Toxic air on the frontlines of petrochemical and plastics development is linked to pre-term and low-weight births and preeclampsia, a sometimes fatal pregnancy complication. Other research has indicated that industrial air pollution and high temperatures linked to the climate crisis are also related to a higher incidence of stillbirth. 

Fracking operations and activities are loud and stressful, causing sleep disturbances, fatigue, and mental health problems—including anxiety and social conflict. People living on the frontlines of fracking, petrochemical, plastic production—in the U.S., this includes disproportionately low-income, rural, Black, Indigenous, and People of Color communities—also face the risk of fatal industrial accidents, including explosions and fires. Air pollution from fossil fuels alone has been linked to the premature deaths of 8.7 million people worldwide and 350,000 people in the U.S. in 2018 alone.

Fracking activities, specifically injection of fracking wastewater into “Class II” wells, have been linked to earthquakes. What’s more, spent unplugged or improperly plugged oil and gas wells can cause fossil fuels to leak into homes, soils, and groundwater, in addition to polluting the air and causing deadly explosions. Fossil fuel companies have overwhelmingly abandoned spent wells instead of properly capping and remediating them—a situation that appears to be putting tax payers in the position of paying to clean up the industry’s mess.

Fracking Pollutes the Planet & Warms the Climate

If the expansion of fossil fuel extraction—particularly fracking—goes ahead as planned in the U.S., an additional 140 billion metric tonnes of climate-warming greenhouse gases would be released into the atmosphere. This “carbon bomb” is expected to rapidly worsen the effects of the climate crisis, and is incompatible with a future where serious action is taken to curb climate change. It is also misaligned with the U.S. Government’s recent shift in approach to the UN Plastics Treaty that would involve addressing plastic pollution at the source—curbing its production.

The harmful effects of the climate crisis—which include extreme temperatures and weather, more frequent and severe storms, sea level rise, and more—disproportionately harm low-income, rural, Black, Indigenous, and People of Color communities. This is climate injustice. 

Fracking infrastructure and activities cause  extensive amounts of pollution, especially when they fail. Well blowouts and pipeline failures, which cause gushing leaks, are frequent and release large amounts of oil, gas, and greenhouse gases. These failures are becoming more frequent as the fracking industry grows and more wells are drilled, and as fossil fuel companies cut corners to save money and maximize profits.

Take Action

Fracking is so toxic and harmful that some countries—including Australia, Costa Rica, France, Germany, Ireland, Scotland, and Spain—and states—including Maryland, New York, Vermont, and Washington—have banned it, while other regions have at times implemented temporary moratoriums and other restrictions. 

However, in other places, including Ohio, fracking-friendly laws, fossil fuel companies’ aggressive sales tactics, and legal provisions overriding landowner consent have pushed fracking into more and more peoples’ backyards. In the U.S., more than 17.6 million people now live within a mile of a fracking well, around six million live within three miles of a refinery.

The future health of people, the planet, and the climate depend on an end of our current fossil fuel era along with a rapid decrease in plastic production. This includes an end to fracking—not its expansion. Help “turn off the tap” by calling on U.S. leaders to stop approvals for new and expanded petrochemical and plastic facilities.

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