Victory! New state laws will reduce pollution from plastic foam and packaging
Oregon and Washington are taking the kind of concrete steps we need to achieve zero waste.
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
Statement: Governor Kotek signs two bills to reduce plastic pollution in Oregon
Can I recycle that?
Updates
Oregon legislature votes to ban polystyrene foam food containers, packing peanuts
More than 52,000 Americans to FTC: Crack down on misleading recyclability claims
Oregon Senate passes bill to phase out polystyrene foam foodware with bipartisan vote
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.
The Latest
Type
Two bills aimed at reducing plastic pollution clear final legislative hurdle, head to governor’s desk
The Oregon state House passed two bills with bipartisan support on Wednesday to address the growing environmental and public health impacts of single-use plastics. Both bills now head to Gov. Tina Kotek's desk for her signature.
How your Earth Day gift will protect the wildlife and wild places we love
By making a gift to our Earth Day 2023 Drive, you’re standing up to protect our natural world, from the North American boreal forest all the way to a favorite forest closer to home. Will you join us?
We’re halfway there: Oregon legislative update
The 2023 Oregon legislative session is halfway over. Here's a progress report on the policies that Environment Oregon is supporting.
Bill to phase out polystyrene foam foodware, packing peanuts and coolers, PFAS in food packaging passes Oregon Senate with bipartisan vote
Today, the Oregon Senate passed Senate Bill 543, which would phase out polystyrene foam foodware, packing peanuts and coolers and prohibit the use of PFAS, a toxic "forever chemical," in food packaging starting January 1, 2025. The vote was 20-9.
Bill to phase out polystyrene foodware, PFAS from food packaging advances to the Senate floor
Senate Bill 543, which would phase out polystyrene foam foodware, packing peanuts and coolers and PFAS in food packaging passed unanimously out of the Senate Committee on Energy & Environment on Thursday.
Team
Meiffren-Swango
Celeste
Meiffren-Swango
State Director, Environment Oregon