The  Third Blue Vision Summit in Washington, DC just concluded. Over 500 attendees, including members of the national and international marine community came together to raise awareness about ocean health, and work towards the enactment and enforcement of national ocean policy, including climate change impacts, Gulf restoration and other pressing issues. Two topics appeared to dominate the sessions:...

The 5th International Marine Debris Conference in Honolulu Hawaii just ended. We thank the United Nations Environment Programme for organizing the event, and for inviting PPC to represent thousands of people, and hundreds of organizations on four continents, who view plastic pollution as a growing and urgent problem for the ocean. During five days of conference sessions, we noticed with growing concern...

Six artists – Raymond Pettibon, Pam Longobardi, Judith Selby Lang and Richard Lang, Dianna Cohen and Lila Roo – have generously donated five works, now available as high resolution, limited edition of 25 prints, numbered and signed by artist. The prints are on Moab Entrada paper and printed at Modern Multiples in Los Angeles. All sold unframed. Perfectly timed for the season of giving,...

Over the past year we’ve had dozens of people contact us, looking for tips to ban the bag in their town. Many PPC members are working on bag bans, and we’ve pulled together resources from all of them into a quick and easy guide, with seven simple steps for people looking to learn more about single-use bag ordinances. Whether you’re tired of seeing plastic bags on your street, can’t...

An environmental magazine in Guatemala, Guia Verde 502, has a great feature on plastic pollution in its latest issue, including a breakdown of what’s happening in the gyres, why plastic recycling doesn’t really solve the problem, and – ahem – what Plastic Pollution Coalition is up to. PPC co-founder Dianna Cohen is a big part of the article. Click the photo below to read the...

On a beautiful California day in October 2009, a group inspired by the vision of a world free of plastic pollution, gathered to discuss the implications of the planet’s growing dependence on plastic. This became the inaugural meeting of Plastic Pollution Coalition – a global alliance of individuals, organizations and businesses working together to end plastic pollution. At this inaugural meeting,...

Just one day after the conclusion of TEDxGreatPacificGarbagePatch, the mailbox at Plastic Pollution Coalition is overflowing with messages of hope and determination to end plastic pollution. We have received overwhelming support for the challenges to individuals,  plastic manufacturers and policy makers. “Lets all REFUSE disposable plastic”, “We have only one planet, we must come...

TED.com has posted artist and PPC Co-founder Dianna Cohen’s inspiring speech from the Mission Blue voyage about Plastic Pollution. Check it out now—if you aren’t already committed, seeing Dianna’s passion about this problem will have you taking the REFUSE pledge and encouraging others too. For years Dianna’s medium was discarded brightly colored plastic bags. As she saw how they slowly broke...

This week, California’s elected officials voted down both a ban on plastic bags and a ban on Bisphenol-A (BPA) in plastic baby bottles, sippy cups and baby formula containers. Thanks to the millions spent by lobbyists for the American Chemistry Council, Dow, and Exxon to defeat these bills, now every Californian knows just what the acronym BPA means; why BPA should never be allowed in baby products;...

BLUE Ocean Film Festival, held in Monterey, California, just announced winners of its 2010 awards for top cinematic works and ocean conservation. BLUE is a one-of-a-kind film industry and community event bringing together films, filmmakers and leaders in ocean research and conservation. Best of Festival award went to “Bag It!” by Reel Thing, which won in the category of Ocean Issues and Conservation....