Plastic-Free MKE is hosting a t-shirt tote bag making day on June 22nd from 1:00-2:30 pm at the School of Freshwater Sciences - 600 E. Greenfield Avenue in room 1099. All bags will be donated to the Coalition on the Lead Emergency Lead Safe & Health Homes Project Cooking with COLE classes. We'll provide t-shirts and snacks; bring your friends, family, neighbors, and kids along and any other reusable bags you aren't using to collect for COLE. Feel free to also bring your own t-shirts that you don't wear anymore. Registration is encouraged but not required!
Register here
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Our next community meeting will be on June 27th from 5:30-7:00 pm at the Urban Ecology Center - Menomonee Valley Branch (3700 W. Pierce St.). The theme of June's meeting will be centered around how the art community uses reclaimed plastics in their art to communicate about the harms of plastics. Local artists will talk about their work and lead us in crafty projects using found plastics. Everyone is welcome so bring your family, friends, kids, neighbors, or coworkers along! No registration is required, and snacks will be provided.
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Donate: Reusable Bag Drop Off
Plastic-Free MKE is collecting tote bags for COLE's Lead Safe & Health Homes Project Cooking with COLE classes. We will have a few drop off locations and times. At the School of Freshwater Sciences, we will be accepting reusable bags on June 4th from 5-7 pm and June 20th from 7-9 am. Look for additional bins at the Urban Ecology Center Riverside Branch until mid-June. Reusable bags can also be dropped off during our t-shirt tote bag making event on the 22nd. Please do not purchase new bags to donate; our goal is to give new life to bags not currently being used. If you cannot drop off bags at these times you can schedule a time with us by emailing info@plasticfreemke.org.
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Action: Tell Walmart to start phasing out single-use plastics
The Wisconsin Public Interest Research Group is circulating a petition to phase out Walmart's excess use of plastic packaging in the grocery aisles. This petition supports their Beyond Plastic campaign's goal to reduce disposable, single-use plastics that are harming our health and environment. Join Plastic-Free MKE in this campaign by signing the petition below.
Sign Here
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Volunteer: Plastic-Free MKE at Pride Fest!
Plastic-Free MKE will be attending Pride Fest all three days with our water refill station. We are looking for multiple volunteers to attend this festival and support the station by giving out free water to attendees and representing Plastic-Free MKE! Volunteers will also have access into the festival. If you are interested, please fill out the Google form below or email sustainability@milwaukeeriverkeeper.org.
Register Here
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As Amazon eliminates plastic packaging abroad, it’s using even more in the US
"Much of Amazon’s reductions took place in countries that have enacted — or threatened to enact — restrictions on certain types of plastic packaging. But the company’s progress may not extend to the U.S., which has not regulated plastic production on a federal level."
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Is Plastic Part of Your Food Pyramid?
“Moreover, plastics enter in with a host of chemicals (up to 6,000 different chemicals used in plastic manufacturing). Many of the plastics and associated chemicals behave as endocrine disrupters (mess with hormones) and have been found to be directly linked to common modern day maladies such as obesity and diabetes."
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Overturning Montana’s “Ban on Bans”
"Two years ago, Montana passed a law (House Bill 407) making it illegal for citizens or municipalities to pass initiatives to regulate single-use plastics. Last month Beyond Plastics volunteers who joined forces with the Cottonwood Environmental Law Center to try to right this wrong succeeded in overturning the first portion of Montana’s “ban on bans”"
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Have You Been Recycling Plastic Beer Can Carriers? It’s a Waste, But Chicago Breweries Are Tackling the Problem
“The carriers either get rejected by facilities because of their tendency to snarl recycling equipment or they escape detection by sorting machinery. As a result, millions of them wind up in landfills, despite consumers’ and breweries’ best intentions."
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Coalition Member Spotlight
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Friends of Lincoln Park: Friends of Lincoln Park focuses on connecting their neighborhood and community to Lincoln Park. They recently invited us to Spring Fest where they showcased the various groups and organizations in Milwaukee protecting the natural areas of their park such as the river, forest, plants, and wildlife. They collaborate with various non-profits and Milwaukee residents to organize events such as clean-ups, invasive species removals, and gardening with the help of The Park People of Milwaukee County. FLP participates in various community events to promote the environmental health of not just Lincoln Park, but Milwaukee as a whole.
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