Plastic is one of the largest and most wasteful pollutants on Earth. Not only does plastic waste last for over 400 years, but it creates greenhouse gas emissions that are largely contributing to our current climate crisis. Would you be surprised if I told you that plastic pollution could come from your own kitchen? Make a mental inventory of all the plastic items in your kitchen right now; we’ll come back to it.
The Plastic Pollution Coalition is a global non-profit organization composed of over 1,200 organizations taking initiative in making the world plastic-free. The PPC cultivates the initiative through five major methods: Research, Community Building, Campaigns, Storytelling and Policy. The non-profit stands for individuals embodying zero-waste values by reducing their use of single-use plastic.The coalition’s main foundations are built off of pushing systemic solutions by requesting government and businesses to enforce regulations for all packages and goods to be intentionally designed for reuse. Their website includes a press room and links to their latest projects, which include The Last Plastic Straw and Hannah4Change. Their website also provides a list of resources and ways for individuals to take action towards ridding their lives of plastic.
The non-profit’s most recent campaign target’s one of the world’s largest businesses, Amazon. The campaign calls for people to sign a petition to get Amazon to stop polluting with its plastic packaging, which includes polystyrene peanuts and non-recyclable bubble wrap. The petition claims that nearly every Amazon package arrives with an excess of plastic. In fact, Amazon generated 465 million pounds of plastic waste in 2019 alone. Amazon is a huge hub centered around consumer convenience and it is often tempting to use to purchase kitchen supplies.
You can become a part of the Plastic Pollution Coalition’s mission to create a world free of plastic and sustain a zero-waste kitchen by avoiding companies who create excess amounts of pollutant plastic waste. Remember the mental inventory of plastic products in the kitchen? Even if the list was low, consider the packaging of necessary items you have purchased for your kitchen. Zero-waste or plastic waste reduction does not necessarily mean that you have to adhere to an all natural diet or invest in creating a compost, although those are great goals to have in mind! You can do your part in reducing plastic waste by contributing to eco-friendly non-profits like the Plastic Pollution Coalition and keeping up to date with the latest ways to help the planet.
Support the Plastic Pollution Coalition: https://www.plasticpollutioncoalition.org
