CA is trying once again to kick its plastic habit. Tell your legislators to vote “YES” on SB-54.

Update! This just passed! Newsom just signed “nation’s most sweeping law to phase out single-use plastics and packaging waste.” Thanks, callers!

(This video was created a couple of years ago for an earlier version of SB-54. That doesn’t change a thing.)

California is addicted to single-use plastic, even though we know that it’s harming us, our wildlife and our environment. Previous legislative interventions have been tabled or failed to pass in 2019, 2020 and 2021 due to fights between competing interests.

Action: Let’s get this done. It’s passed the CA Senate and now has to get through the Assembly by June 30.

Minimal script: I’m calling from [zip code]and I want Assemblymember [___] to vote “YES” on SB-54 – the plastics and solid waste bill on the Assembly floor this week!

Note to our callers: Please be particularly kind to the legislative staffers who are answering phones, due to the verbal abuse they are getting from opponents to the abortion protection bills that are passing through right now. They have a really hard job. Tell them that you appreciate what they do.

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Wed. 5/26 is “Break Free From Plastic Pollution Act” Call-In Day!

Please join us on Wednesday, 5/26/21 to flood Congress with calls from across the nation urging them to fight plastic pollution by co-sponsoring the Break Free From Plastic Pollution Act of 2021.

Action #1: Tell your representatives: Support the Break Free From Plastic Pollution Act
Action #2: Tell Amazon shareholders to vote YES on reporting on single-use plastic pollution
Action #3: Tell Whole Foods: Take single-use plastic packaging off your shelves.

Plastic is toxic, and includes 144 chemicals or chemical groups known to be hazardous to human health. Microplastic particles are so pervasive in our food and water that the average person ingests a credit card’s worth of plastic (5g) every week. A recent study even documented microplastic particles in maternal human placentas. Breaking free from plastic would protect human health and improve fertility, helping ensure our survival as a species.

Action #1: Tell your representatives: Support the Break Free From Plastic Pollution Act

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Fri – 3/8: What’s wrong with this picture? Say “YES” to CA’s AB-1080/SB 54.

Action 1 – No, no, it’s not the cucumbers…(They’re great!)

This is the season for articles on what to give up for Lent. This year, instead 40 days without chocolate, alcohol or binge-watching TV shows, many churches are asking their parishioners to give up single-use plastic, some even specifying different types each week, like shopping bags, drinking straws, water bottles, styrofoam and food wrappers. In the secular world, Trader Joe’s announced in February’s Fearless Flyer, that they will be taking more steps to reduce plastic and other packaging waste due to increasing customer criticism for their perceived “overuse of packaging,” especially in the produce section. (See cucumbers, above.)

Why is plastic in the news everywhere? Because China has CUT US OFF! The recycling giant isn’t taking our plastic recyclables anymore, or anyone else’s – nearly half of the world’s excess plastic waste. So what is the US going to do about our little 4000-shipping-containers-A-DAY plastic trash habit? Although 2018’s Earth Day motto was a warning about plastics pollution, we hadn’t hit bottom yet. We need to make changes fast, beyond bags and straws, and CA can lead the way.

Environmental groups (see below) are supporting AB-1080/ SB 54 – “California Circular Economy and Plastic Pollution Reduction Act.” It will address the collapse of foreign recycling markets by reducing solid waste generation, encourage transition to compostable or recyclable materials, and foster domestic recycling markets. Businesses selling products into California would also have to comply with our packaging requirements, spreading the benefits to our environment beyond state lines. And beyond our own well-being as well. Nobody wants a future filled with animals trapped, entangled, starved or poisoned by our plastic waste.

Minimal script: I’m calling from [zip code and I want Senator/Assemblymember [____] to follow and support AB-1080/ SB 54 – “California Circular Economy and Plastic Pollution Reduction Act.” This is a really important issue for the future of California.

Continue reading “Fri – 3/8: What’s wrong with this picture? Say “YES” to CA’s AB-1080/SB 54.” →