Plastic-Free MKE is looking for new initiatives to focus on in the coming year, and we would greatly appreciate your feedback. We have put together a list of potential initiatives that Plastic-Free MKE would like to work on. We are asking for your input on which of these initiatives you believe would be the most impactful, which initiatives you would like to see Plastic-Free MKE move forward with, and which initiatives would excite you as a potential volunteer! Please take the time to complete this short survey so we have a better idea of which initiatives to prioritize.
|
Get Involved: Volunteer for a Pilot Study
Hold On To Your Butt MKE is looking for volunteers to help them with a pilot study on pocket ashtrays. Cigarette butts are among the top littered items in the world, and pocket ashtrays may be a solution! If you or anyone you know is a cigarette smoker, Hold On To Your Butt MKE would like to hear from you.
Click here to learn more
|
Listen: The Reusies™ Panel Discussion - Why Reuse Wins
Moderated by science communicator and TV personality Danni Washington, panelists Matt Prindiville of Upstream; Bridget Croke of Closed Loop Partners; Liz Segran of Fast Company; and artist/activist Benjamin Von Wong discuss their vision for an indisposable future, how we can get there, and why it is so important that we all come together to support the reuse movement.
Click here to listen
|
Read: The New Coal - Plastics and Climate Change
The New Coal: Plastics and Climate Change is a comprehensive account of the United States plastics industry’s significant, yet rarely acknowledged contributions to the climate crisis. Using coal-fired power plants as a benchmark, the report examines ten stages in the creation, usage, and disposal of plastics: fracking for plastics, transporting and processing fossil fuels, gas crackers, other plastics feedstock manufacturing, polymers and additives production, exports and imports, foamed plastic insulation, “chemical recycling”, municipal waste incineration, and plastics in the water.
Click here to read the report
|
Take Action: How to Minimizing Microplastic Shedding in Laundry
Did you know that synthetic material is a contributor to microplastic pollution? When these materials are washed, they break down, shedding microplastics and releasing them into the environment. Following these tips will reduce the amount of microplastics that make it into our water supply through the laundry cycle, while also increasing the longevity of your clothing.
Click here for laundry tips
|
How Airborne Microplastics Affect Climate Change.
"Microplastics—minuscule bits of bottles, bags, synthetic fibers and other plastic waste that have broken up in the environment—are influencing Earth’s climate as they circulate through the atmosphere."
Read the full article here
|
Scientists Turn Bioplastic Into Fertilizer
"With new technology, plastic can do more than hold a growing plant — it can fertilize it."
Read the full article here
|
The Trash Divers Protecting America's Best-Loved Lakes
"Using their scuba skills, these water lovers clean the country's largest lakes in the hope that their garbage hordes can spark high-level change."
Read the full article here
|
EPA Might Finally Regulate the Plastic Industry's Favorite Kind of 'Recycling'
"One of the fossil fuel and plastic industries’ favorite “solutions” to the plastic pollution crisis may finally be coming under greater scrutiny from the federal government."
Read the full article here
|
Will Plastics Recycling Meet its Deadline?
"Consumer product companies have set lofty goals for recycling but have so far made only modest progress."
Read the full article here
|
|
