It is imperative that groups supporting sustainable packaging comment on this report, as the US EPA will be use it as the foundation of their future approach to packaging issues. So far, comments from environmentally-conscious actors and citizens are outnumbered by those from industry insiders. Comments on this report are due February 9th. The focus of comments should be on the need for source reduction and industry responsibility for packaging waste they generate.

We cannot let this opportunity pass to steer the EPA away from adopting the plastic industry’s reversal of the sustainability model to prefer recycling over reduction and reuse. Recycling will never solve all the problems associatedwith plastic packaging including: human health concerns, impacts on the environment and wildlife, and costs to local governments that are burdened with pollution control.  Please see the attached sample comments submitted by Legal Policy Director Lisa Kaas Boyle on behalf of Plastic Pollution Coalition and Leslie Tamminen submitted on behalf of Seventh Generation.

Steps to Comment:

1. Click on this link.
2. Click on the link in the search results which says “Memorandum to open docket for public access”.
3. In the top right corner, click on the “Submit Comment” button.
4. Fill out the information fields on the comment page. Be sure to both paste your comment in the large and attach a document file with the comment in it.
5. Click submit.

How about you just make permanent, durable stuff outta plastic and not just for instant-trash, convenience-based throw-aways, huh? I mean, work with us here, eh? Instead, they want to dump the responsibility back to us through “increased rates of recovery and recycling of plastics”. On the fleeting bright side of this problem of plastic pollution, DOW suggests that, “the industrial sector has been guilty of “insufficient participation” in finding a solution”. Duh, dooood…(snore, snore…)

This is all in reaction to Mexico’s plastic bag ban, which the plastics industry claims is being poorly managed. Hey, bienvenidos a Mexico, Jorge – maybe planning to avoid the pollution situation that you’ve caused for an entire country should have been thought out before this breaking point, instead of after this “populist measure”, ya think? Get used to “populist measures”, we have them planned all over the globe.

Mexico is feeling the brunt of plastics pollution, and is responding with legislation – perhaps a last resort. But when dealing with an unneighborly adversary like the plastics people, ya gotta do whatcha gotta do…unfortunately, Mexico does not have the infrastructure to recycle (whilst whistling a happy tune, as the plastics industry thinks it happens) the volumes of plastic throw-aways that are foisted upon them by manufacturers, so are attempting to legislate the problem down to controllable levels. Buenas Suerte!

I think we can all agree that the problem lies (literally and figuratively) on the roadside stretches BETWEEN the rest stops. Much like our oceanic gyres, our roadsides are strewn with trash – most of it plastic bags and bottles. I recently spoke at a local city council meeting considering a bag ban and concerned that I lacked evidence for a convincing argument, I counted plastic bags along the 30 mile drive of the I-5 freeway…and was shocked to tally-up 68 bags – and that was just one side of the highway and did not include areas where I had to pay attention to traffic versus counting the “urban tumbleweeds”.

Bottom line, the plastics manufacturers are again encouraging us to fix their problem of the instant waste by recycling their product. Why are items like extremely durable plastic bottles designed for one fleeting use? Answer: $$$$$$$, baaaaby!

I can still remember the days when you returned your glass drink bottles for redemption – and they’d be sterilized and refilled. But now the burden of dealing with the waste receptacle (plastic bottle) has been shifted/dumped into our laps.

Perhaps the ACC should sponsor some Adopt A Highway areas and put their $$$ where their green(back)-washing mouths are, yes? Much better to set a good example, be a good neighbor, turn a good deed, versus touting the tiresome and distracting rest-stop cosmetic make-overs…here’s the phone number (just in case there’s time to call, between trips to the bank): 1-866-ADOPT-A-HWY

In this interview, Angie Coiro asks Manuel about his recent trip to Midway Atoll with Chris Jordan, which leads to a discussion about plastic pollution in the ocean.   During the talk, Manuel has the opportunity to clarify common misconceptions regarding the possibility of cleaning up the ocean, recycling plastics, or switching to biodegradable plastics.

Manuel says it loud and clear: all of the above are “ways to avoid the question”.  “What we can do now is to stop single-use disposables” made out of plastic.

You can download this MP3 here. Original unedited podcast can be found here.