https://healthyplanetusa.org/radio/archive-2023-09-01-plastic-pollution-...

Stemming The Tidal Wave of Plastics Pollution

With Celeste Meiffren-Swango, State Director Environment Oregon
Zero Waste Program Director Environment America and PIRG

The UNEP states: “On average, the world is producing 430 million tonnes of plastic per year – two thirds of which are only used for a short period of time. Wrappers for our chocolate bars, packets for our crisps and plastic utensils for our lunch. But, this brief life cycle has consequences; every day, the equivalent of over 2,000 garbage trucks full of plastic are dumped into our oceans, rivers and lakes. As a result, plastic pollution is set to triple by 2060 if no action is taken.”

According to PIRG, from the time we wake up this morning until we go to bed tonight, our country will throw away enough plastic to fill the Dallas Cowboys stadium — the country’s largest football stadium — to the brim. To make matters worse, most of that plastic probably won’t get recycled. Globally, only 9% of plastics are currently being recycled. In fact, 50% of all plastic produced is intended to be used once and then thrown away. And since most plastic takes hundreds of years to fully degrade, almost every bit of that plastic will still be out there piling up in landfills, littering our streets, and polluting our environment for generations to come. This practice cannot be allowed to continue.

Join HealthyPlanet’s Bob DiBenedetto for an interview with Celeste Meiffren-Swango, the director of Environment Oregon, and the Zero Waste Program Director with Environment America and PIRG. Celeste has been advocating for governments to address the serious problem of plastic pollution while pushing for industry to take financial responsibility for their waste. This show outlines the immense challenges posed by the enormous amount of plastic waste in our world and the stengthening movement to stem the rising tide of this silent killer. It also covers what we can do to support the movement to reduce plastic pollution in our world.

Join us to get informed–which is the first step to becoming part of the solution!