The sooner we get single-use plastics out of our national parks, the better
The Interior Department can move faster on removing single-use plastic products from our national parks.
Beyond plastic
To spare birds, fish and other wildlife from the harm caused by plastic pollution, we’re raising our voices for a world with less single-use plastic products.
Maybe you’ve seen the video of a sea turtle with a plastic straw stuck in its nose, or the headlines about whales washing ashore with stomachs full of plastic. With so much plastic pollution floating in the ocean, it’s too easy for wildlife to mistake it for food — and too often, they pay the price with their lives. The good news is that more people, communities, states and companies are moving away from the single-use plastics we don’t even need. Because after all, nothing we use for a few minutes should pollute our environment and threaten wildlife for hundreds of years.
The Latest on Beyond plastic
Advocates head to Springfield to support legislation to phase out plastic foam food ware
The label says ‘widely recyclable.’ Is it true?
Updates
Phase out of plastic foam food ware passes the Illinois House
Legislation advances to phase out plastic foam food ware in Illinois
New bill would stop spilling of plastic into waterways
Earth Month beach cleanup
Join us for a clean up at Chicago’s North Avenue Beach on Saturday, April 29.
IN-PERSON
North Avenue Beach House, 1501 N. Jean-Baptiste Pointe DuSable Lake Shore Drive, Chicago, Illinois 60610
Featured Resources
Trash in America
10 steps Whole Foods can immediately take to reduce single-use plastic
Reducing plastic waste in the states
Products without plastic: Innovating for a packaging-free future
Did You Know?
Scientists have found plastic fragments in 44% of all seabird species, 43% of all marine mammal species and 100% of sea turtle species.
I am moved to contribute to Environment Illinois because I know that governmental policy is at the root of many of our environmental difficulties. Now that I am a grandparent, the necessity of carving out a more sustainable future becomes ever more urgent.Nick Bridge, Member, Environment Illinois
The necessity of carving out a more sustainable future becomes ever more urgent
I support Environment Illinois because it addresses local and national issues, and it works collaboratively with other organizations. The more voices we have the better. I encourage people who want to help the environment to find an issue they’re passionate about and start there—you can make change.Julie Moller, Member, Environment Illinois
The more voices we have the better
The Latest
Type
Our plans for moving beyond plastic in 2023
This year we can reduce plastic waste by winning more bans on single-use plastics and convincing companies such as Amazon and Whole Foods to cut plastic packaging.
Sysco, the world’s largest food distributor, should stop using harmful single-use plastic
Sysco delivers wholesale food to a wide variety of businesses including restaurants, hotels and hospitals — but in the process, its use of plastic packaging is contributing to the plastic pollution crisis that kills 1 million marine animals every year.
Statement: Canada Bans Single-Use Plastics
The Canadian government has announced that it will ban the manufacture and import of most single-use plastic products in December 2022 and the sale of these products as of December 2023.
U.S. Interior Department to phase out sale of single-use plastic products in parks, public lands
WASHINGTON --- Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland issued an order on Wednesday, World Oceans Day, to phase out single-use plastic products on lands managed by the Department of the Interior by 2032. The order is intended to reduce -- and eventually eliminate -- plastic and polystyrene food and beverage containers, bottles, straws, cups, cutlery and disposable plastic bags at national parks and on other public lands.
Wildlife Over Waste Beach Cleanup
Environment Illinois hosted its first Wildlife Over Waste Beach Cleanup at Montrose Beach in Chicago, cleaning up over 90 pounds of trash.