Surfrider Foundation – Plastic Pollution Initiative: Year in Review

February 10, 2021By Plastics-Free InitiativeNews

2020 brought unprecedented events, from a global pandemic to civil unrest due to racial injustices and systematic racism. Surfrider’s Plastic Pollution Initiative experienced a renewed sense of commitment and urgency in continuing to fight against plastic pollution. Plastic pollution is not only an environmental issue, but it’s also a social and racial justice issue, and now more than ever, we need to take concrete steps to address this crisis.

Amazon’s Plastic Problem Revealed

February 10, 2021By Plastics-Free InitiativeNews

Oceana analyzed e-commerce packaging data and found that Amazon generated 465 million pounds of plastic packaging waste in 2019. This includes air pillows, bubble wrap, and other plastic packaging items added to the approximately 7 billion Amazon packages delivered in 2019. The report also found that Amazon’s estimated plastic packaging waste, in the form of air pillows alone, would circle the Earth more than 500 times.

President Biden: Be a #PlasticFreePresident

February 10, 2021By Plastics-Free InitiativeNews

A coalition of more than 550 community and conservation organizations, including many members in the #breakfreefromplastic​ movement, today released its Presidential Plastics Action Plan, urging President-elect Joe Biden to take eight key executive actions to solve the plastic pollution crisis and become a #PlasticFreePresident​.

Florida’s state marine mammal, the manatee, is falling prey to plastics

December 4, 2020By Plastics-Free InitiativeNews

Affectionately known as “sea cows,” manatees are a treasured sight along Florida’s coastline. These slow-moving, gentle giants can weigh up to 1,200 pounds, subsisting solely on a vegetarian spread of seagrass and algae. But their diets too often include something that doesn’t belong – plastic.

Oceana reviewed nearly 1,800 documented cases of plastic consumption and entanglement among marine animals in U.S. waters from 2009 to early 2020 and discovered that manatees, along with turtles, were disproportionately represented…