The best ways that we can protect the environment in 2023

Threats to our wildlife and wild places didn’t let up over the past year.

Bees continued to die off by the millions, while orcas and manatees underwent another hungry year without enough of the salmon and seagrass they need to survive. Forests were logged and plastic pollution continued to flow into our rivers and oceans. And millions of us experienced droughts, storms, wildfires or other disasters made worse by climate change.

But at every challenge, environmental advocates like you stood with us to meet it head-on. Our hard work has helped win progress for our planet — and we can’t slow down now.

Our plans to protect the environment in 2023

Environment Washington has big plans for 2023. Here’s a look at just a few of the priorities that — with your support — we’re working to make progress on in the coming months:

• Put wildlife over waste: Today, 1 in 3 Americans lives in a state with a robust ban on at least one type of single-use plastic. Now, we’re calling on corporations to do their part, including working to convince Whole Foods to eliminate single-use plastic packaging.
• Protect our forests: Our forests are being logged at an astonishing rate, often just to produce products like toilet paper. We’re calling on Costco to help end the deforestation of the boreal forest by making its Kirkland Signature tissue products from at least 50% recycled material and requiring other brands it sells to make the same change.
• Protect our oceans: We know that when you drill, you spill — and that’s why we’re continuing our campaign to protect our oceans and coastal ecosystems from new offshore oil and gas drilling in federal waters. We’re also working to protect the endangered North Atlantic Right whale through our new campaign calling on Red Lobster to purchase lobster caught with ropeless fishing gear to prevent whale entanglements.
• Promote clean energy: Our country made its largest-ever investment in clean energy and climate change solutions with the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act in 2022. In 2023, we’ll continue our work to get the word out and make sure Americans make the most of clean energy incentives for electric vehicles, rooftop solar, heat pumps, electric water heaters and home appliances.

We need your help

Together, I know we can make a difference in 2023. Why? Because we’ve done it before.

Over the past year, the steady drumbeat of support from people like you helped us win the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act, which includes billions of dollars in funding designed to reduce our country’s global warming emissions 40% below 2005 levels by 2030.

Our national network has helped pass restrictions on some of the worst single-use plastics in states across the country, from Oregon to Virginia.

And together, we helped win laws restricting bee-killing neonics in New Jersey and New York. These states now join Connecticut, Maryland, Vermont, Massachusetts and Maine on the list of states with similar restrictions.

But our planet still needs your support. 

To protect wildlife and wild places in the coming year, we set the goal of raising $200,000 by the new year for our Year-End Drive. It’s still not too late to give — donate to help us go into the new year strong.