Tell your state lawmakers to move California beyond plastic

We have a huge plastic pollution problem in our state. Scientists have discovered plastic pollution from Lake Tahoe to the marine sanctuary of Monterey Bay, and even inside our food and beverages -- potentially exposing us to hazardous compounds and additives.

Nothing we use for a few minutes should harm our environment and public health for hundreds of years. We need to take steps to move beyond plastic.

This month, the state legislature is considering legislation that would reduce single-use plastic foodware, help consumers figure out which single-use plastic products are actually recyclable and more.

Tell your legislators to pass these common sense laws to reduce the amount of plastic waste that ends up in our communities.

Subject: Vote Yes on key bills to reduce plastic pollution

Your Letter:

We have a huge plastic pollution problem in our state. Every day, Californians throw away millions of single-use plastic containers, utensils, pieces of packaging and other plastic items. Because it can take hundreds of years to fully degrade and most of it can't be recycled, nearly all of that plastic waste is still out there, clogging landfills, littering our streets and polluting our oceans.

Scientists have discovered plastic pollution from Lake Tahoe to the marine sanctuary of Monterey Bay, and even inside our food and beverages -- potentially exposing us to hazardous compounds and additives. Nothing we use for a few minutes should harm our environment and public health for hundreds of years.

I urge you to vote YES in support of a package of plastic legislation that will take important, commonsense steps to reduce the amount of unnecessary plastic polluting our communities and ocean. These bills include:

- SB 343, which would reduce consumer confusion by restricting the use of the "chasing arrows" symbol to only those plastic products that are truly recyclable.

- AB 1276, which would require restaurants and food delivery companies to only provide single-use utensils, condiments and napkins to customers who specifically ask for them.

- AB 881, which would stop the current practice of counting all plastic waste exports as "recycled." Currently, much of the mixed plastic waste we ship overseas for recycling is instead landfilled, burned or dumped (often into rivers that lead to the ocean).

- AB 478, which would set minimum recycled content requirements (starting at 10 percent, and phasing up to 30 percent) for plastic clamshell containers, including restaurant takeout containers and berry boxes at the grocery store.

- AB 962, which would pave the way for more returnable beverage bottle systems and less single-use bottles in California by allowing beverage producers to sanitize and refill intact bottles.

- AB 1201, which would prohibit manufacturers from claiming that a product is compostable unless the product meets specific compostability standards.

Sincerely,

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