Ditch plastic packaging: Shop at your local refillery
A wave of new retail businesses are eliminating single-use plastic packaging entirely, showing us what a future with dramatically less plastic could look like.
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
Too much of a good thing? The environmental downside of the “Stanley cup” craze.
A look back at what our unique network accomplished in 2023
What You Can Do
Featured Resources
Trash in America
10 steps Whole Foods can immediately take to reduce single-use plastic
Reducing plastic waste in the states
Refill, Return, Reimagine: Innovative Solutions to Reduce Wasteful Packaging
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.
The Latest
10 steps Whole Foods can immediately take to reduce single-use plastic
The national chain prides itself on being a green grocer, but is falling short. Here are 10 steps that Whole Foods should take to be more sustainable in the new year.
Hundreds of voices are speaking up for big blue
More than 250 community leaders joined the movement to protect our oceans by signing up to become “Voices for Our Oceans.”
Report examines America’s waste problem over past 3 years
MARYLAND--- Every year, the average American throws out nearly 1,800 pounds of trash. Together, Americans throw out enough plastic each year to fill up the Dallas Cowboys’ AT&T Stadium --- the largest NFL football stadium --- 565 times over.
Lawmakers and public push Whole Foods to put “Planet Over Plastic” at upcoming annual meeting
ANNAPOLIS, Maryland -- Environment Maryland Research & Policy Center, Maryland PIRG Foundation, along with their national affiliates sent 59,000 petitions and a letter signed by more than 40 state lawmakers Thursday to Whole Foods urging the company to commit to a comprehensive plan for phasing out single-use plastic packaging from its stores. This follows a March 2021 letter signed by more than 130 advocacy and community groups calling on the national supermarket chain to adopt a bold response to the plastic pollution crisis.
Lawmakers and public push Whole Foods to put “Planet Over Plastic” at upcoming annual meeting
AUSTIN, Texas -- Environment America Research & Policy Center, U.S. PIRG Education Fund and Student PIRG sent 59,000 petitions and a letter signed by more than 40 state lawmakers Thursday to Whole Foods urging them to put planet over plastic.