We have some epic wins to celebrate this month. On October 5, California Governor Newsom signed multiple pieces of legislation into law that will significantly reduce California’s consumption and disposal of plastic. California, which in 2020 was named the highest producer and exporter of plastic pollution, is now leading the U.S. on building systems that are reusable, sustainable, and truly plastic-free! The Governor’s climate leadership also includes phasing out oil production, preventing new oil drilling near communities, and establishing science-based 3,200-foot setbacks for oil and gas operations.

Many of the new California laws have also been proposed at the federal level in the Break Free From Plastic Pollution Act, introduced by Senator Jeff Merkley (OR) and Representative Alan Lowenthal (CA). Sign on to support this landmark legislation here and ask your state representatives to support it too.

We are days away from the start of the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26) being held in Glasgow, Scotland, and our PPC Youth Ambassadors have launched a campaign calling on world leaders to take bold action to safeguard the future. Read the details and sign on to support them here. And be sure to check out the amazing campaign by artist/activist Ben Von Wong to tell world leaders to #TurnOffThePlasticTap!

In other big news, the 2021 Break Free From Plastic Corporate Brand Audit data once again reveals Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, Unilever, Nestle, and Procter & Gamble as the top plastic polluters in global cleanups. Activists urge these corporations to REVEAL the total amount of plastic they produce, drastically REDUCE it, and redesign their packaging for REUSE.

Finally, be sure to check out our tricks and treats for a plastic-free Halloween!

Onward together,

Dianna Cohen
Co-Founder & CEO
Plastic Pollution Coalition

* Dianna Cohen Photo: Copyright Kieran E. Scott from 200 Women, www.twohundredwomen.com

★ Plastic Pollution Coalition Youth Ambassadors Call on World Leaders to Take Action at the UN Climate Change Conference (COP26) and beyond (Oct. 4)
PPC Youth Activists are calling for drastic, progressive measures to reduce the production and disposal of single-use plastics and also to adopt policies aimed at human and environmental justice. “As youth, we may only be 18% of the population today, but we are 100% of the future.” Read more and sign on to support here.

★ Break Free From Plastic (BFFP) held a national event on Oct. 26 to address the crisis of environmental racism, the destruction of natural resources, and the climate crisis. Don’t worry if you missed it; you can still sign the petition asking President Biden to immediately halt approvals for new and expanded fossil-fueled petrochemical projects including cracker plants and create a pathway for fenceline communities to participate in reforming existing emission regulations for existing infrastructure with a standard of safety.

★ October Webinar: The Cost Of Convenience: Quest for Solutions to the Plastic Pollution Crisis (Oct. 20)
During the October PPC webinar, we focused on the connection between the plastic pollution crisis and environmental injustice around the world, where economically disadvantaged nations take in a larger share of the world’s trash, and manufacturing chemicals threaten predominantly Black and low-income communities. Our panelists included Erica Cirino, author of a new book, Thicker Than Water: The Quest for Solutions to the Plastic Crisis; Dr. Kerim Odekon, environmental justice advocate, member of the Brookhaven Landfill Action & Remediation Group, and clinical assistant professor of medicine at Stony Brook Medicine, New York, USA; and Dr. Sedat Gündoğdu, Associate Professor, Microplastic Research Group, Faculty of Fisheries, University of Cukurova, Turkey. You can watch the webinar here. Thicker Than Water: The Quest for Solutions to the Plastic Crisis is available from Island Press. Visit www.islandpress.org and use code PPC25 for 25% off all books.

★ Artist/Activist Ben Von Wong Launches Campaign To “Turn Off The Plastic Tap” (Oct. 5)
A picture is worth a thousand words -- and Artist/Activist Ben Von Wong’s latest art installation of an omnipresent plastic tap leaking a steady stream of plastic into the environment is a perfect visual metaphor for the global plastics crisis. Learn about his “turn off the plastic tap” campaign raising awareness on the burgeoning harm of plastic production here.

★ The Story of Plastic Free Streaming Extended Through November 30, 2021 + Subtitles In 28 Languages
Following its win for best writing at the 42nd Annual News and Documentary Emmy Awards, Discovery has extended its free stream of The Story of Plastic on YouTube through November 30, 2021. Subtitles in the following languages have been added: Arabic, Bulgarian, Chinese (Simplified), Chinese (Traditional), Croatian, Danish, Dutch, English, French, German, Greek, Hindi, Hungarian, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Lithuanian, Polish, Portuguese (Brazil), Russian, Slovak, Spanish (Spain), Swahili, Tamil, Thai, Turkish, Ukrainian, and Vietnamese. Spread the word!

★ Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives Demands for World Leaders at COP26
In a powerfully worded letter, the Global Alliance For Incinerator Alternatives (GAIA) has called on world leaders to meet their Paris Agreement NDC’s by adopting zero waste alternatives to false solutions like waste-to-energy, which contribute to climate change and do nothing to lessen the burgeoning global plastics crisis. Read more about the campaign and the full letter here.

★ November PPC Webinar: Emmy-Winning Film The Story of Plastic: A Conversation with Filmmaker & Frontline Activists (Nov. 10)
In this webinar, we go behind the scenes with Nikhilesh Paliath and Priscilla Villa Watt, two of the heroes featured in the Emmy-winning documentary film The Story of Plastic together in conversation, moderated by Stiv Wilson, co-producer and visionary behind the film. Together they will discuss the current state of the plastic pollution crisis two years after the documentary’s debut, focusing on the environmental and social justice elements of the film and the nexus of plastic pollution and human rights. They will also discuss the breakneck pace at which the petrochemical buildout is harming communities around the world as single-use plastic products spread into new global markets. Sign up for the webinar here. 

We encourage you to watch The Story of Plastic FOR FREE ahead of the webinar!

★ Green Spark Group Sustainable Production Forum - Life Imitates Art: Visualizing a World Free of Plastic Pollution (Oct. 25-29)
Tune in on Friday, October 29, 2021 as PPC co-founders Dianna & Julia Cohen join a panel discussion with SAG-AFTRA president, actor, and activist Fran Drescher; actor, director, and author Eg Begley Jr.; and Dana Weinstein, Project Specialist for the Media Impact Project at the Norman Lear Center, USC; as they discuss the impacts of plastic pollution and visualize a world free of it. This panel is part of the Sustainable Production Forum, which takes place Oct. 25-29. The event is hosted by Green Spark Group and is called the World's Premier Event for Greening Motion Picture. Register here.

★ Web Summit 2021 Lisbon Portugal (Nov. 1-4)
In collaboration with Web Summit, Plastic Pollution Coalition is supporting water refill stations throughout the convention center, on which our logo and names will appear all four days of the conference. We will also be presenting “What's the Story With Plastic?” on November 4 at 15:30–15:50 WET. In this session, Deia Schlosberg, Emmy-winning director of The Story of Plastic, joins Plastic Pollution Coalition CEO and Co-Founder Dianna Cohen and big wave surfer Garrett McNamara as they discuss “what the hell to do with plastic.” Moderated by José Pedro Frazão Rádio Renascença.

★ Students for Zero Waste Conference (PLAN) (Nov. 5-7)
The Post-Landfill Action Network’s Students for Zero Waste (SZW) Conference will take place virtually November 5-7, 2021. Since 2014, SZW has brought together students, staff, industry innovators, activists, and community members each Fall. Attendees will gain programmatic and skills-building knowledge through student and industry professional panels, explore innovative campus solutions through a Digital Student Project Gallery, and make change in your own communities. Check out postlandfill.org/szw to learn more and register!

★ Break Free From Plastic Corporate Brand Audits Name Coca-Cola as Top Plastic Polluter Globally for Fourth Year in a Row
Other top polluters are PepsiCo, Unilever, Nestlé, and Procter & Gamble. “This report is a collaboration of Break Free From Plastic members, allies and all 11,184 volunteers who conducted 440 brand audits across 45 countries. Together, they collected 330,493 pieces of plastic waste, 58% of which was marked with a clear consumer brand.” Read the full report here.

★ Center For International Environmental Law (CIEL) Releases Investigative Report on Formosa Plastics: A Serial Offender of Environmental & Human Rights
“The world is in the middle of a plastics and petrochemicals boom that is both disastrous from a health and environmental perspective and foolish from a financial and economic one. The Taiwanese conglomerate Formosa Plastics Group (FPG or Formosa Plastics) is the fourth-largest producer of plastics and petrochemicals worldwide. The company’s six-decade-long history is emblematic of the profound risks that the plastic and petrochemicals industry poses to health, local ecosystems, human rights, and the global climate.” Read the full report here.

★ Beyond Plastics report: The New Coal: Plastics and Climate Change
Is Plastic the new coal? Beyond Plastic’s latest report The New Coal: Plastics and Climate Change explores the rarely acknowledged link between the lifecycle of plastic from extraction to disposal and climate change. “As of 2020, the U.S. plastics industry is responsible for at least 232 million tons of CO2e gas emissions per year. This amount is equivalent to the average emissions from 116 average-sized (500-megawatt) coal-fired power plants.” Read the report here.

★ UN Report - The Stages of the Plastics Cycle and Their Impacts on Human Rights
On October 20, 2021, UN Special Rapporteur on Toxic and Human Rights, Marcos Orellana, presented a report focused on plastics and human rights at the UN General Assembly. The report demonstrated how plastic, throughout its lifecycle, impacts and has negative effects on internationally recognized human rights - such as the rights to life, to health, to a healthy environment, to housing, to access to safe water, etc. The report also addressed the need for vulnerable groups to have access to participate in decision-making as a means of ensuring accountability. Read the report, watch the full presentation, and read CIEL's response.

★ Surfrider Foundation releases Bioplastics Toolkit
Not all items labeled as compostable truly are. Now Surfrider Foundation has released a new toolkit where consumers can check before they purchase which items are truly compostable and which contribute to microplastics entering the environment. Access the toolkit here.

★ As You Sow - 2021 Corporate Plastic Pollution Scorecard
While this latest report from As You Sow makes evident the efforts companies and corporations are beginning to take to reduce plastic pollution, it is also clear that much more needs to be done. It is up to investors, policymakers, and the public to hold Coca-Cola and other companies in this report accountable for actually meeting their targets and taking tangible action to reduce the enormous plastic mess already in our oceans and avert the chilling predictions of massive future pollution.

★ Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives (GAIA): Waste Colonialism Arrives In Latin America
“Between January and August 2020, the United States shipped 44,173 tons of plastic waste, the same tonnage as almost 300 blue whales, to 15 Latin American countries, approximately 35 containers per day. An investigative report by GAIA LAC (Latin America and the Caribbean) members reveals the untold story of how the U.S. is exporting its plastic problems to Latin America–disregarding international and national laws–and the harm that it’s causing to the Latin American people and environment. Read the executive summary here.

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