One important contributor to climate change and other environmental harm is our consumption habits. On the Way to Plastic Free! was the first event in a series that will look at plastic proliferation.

West Marin Climate Action partnered with Environmental Action Committee, Zero Waste Marin, and Black Mountain Beauty to offer a virtual screening of two important films (“The Story of Plastic”, and “Plastic Wars”) about the expanding plastic industry, the crisis of plastic pollution, and the effect it has on the health of people and the planet.

After watching the films at home the week prior, participants gathered in a virtual format to learn more from three, expert panelists, and discuss how to disrupt the consumption of plastic, locally and globally. Thank You to our panelists for sharing such important information on our plastic recycling and waste systems, and on policy initiatives, technology and community solutions.

-Garen Kazanjian, Recology Sonoma Marin, Waste Zero Specialist
-Eva Holman, UPSTREAM, Policy Coordinator
-Martin Bourque, Ecology Center, Executive Director
(Martin Bourque was featured in “The Story of Plastic”)

Our panelists answered questions from our participant audience, and for questions we didn’t have time to address, we will follow up with the panelists and encourage continued engagement with us to learn more and develop solutions in our community. The event ended with a Call to Action discussion where links to resources on solutions and action campaigns were shared.

Here are some of those links:

Reusable Foodware Ordinance
Plastic Bag Ban
Break Free From Plastic Pollution Act
Circular Economy Bill
California AB1826 Organic Food Waste Policy
Surfrider’s Plastic Reduction and Ocean/Coast Protection Campaigns

There are many ways you can reduce your own consumption of plastic. See Marnie’s Plastic Free How-to Videos on our Consumption page describing how to shop for food plastic free, and how to make your own toothpaste and deodorant to avoid buying more unnecessary plastic.

Also, we invited our community to join our Plastic Reduction Challenge!
This practice is a great way to take stock of how much plastic moves through our lives, remembering that currently, only about 10% of it will actually be recycled into a new product, and can only be recycled once. Ninety percent of our plastic waste ends up in landfills, gets burned or goes into our watersheds and ocean. We hope this helps us make better choices to reduce our demand for plastic products and wrapping.

Here’s what to do for the Plastic Challenge:
1. For one week (start and end dates are your choice), collect all the plastic that your household accumulates.
2. Download and print out our Plastic Collection Data Sheet.
3. Dedicate a separate receptacle to collect your plastic waste during the week. Keep track of other plastic (such as pens, toys) that you may accumulate during the week.
4. At the end of the week, spread out your collected plastic on a tarp/sheet and count the items in each category and record on the sheet.
5. Take a photo of your collection and Data Sheet (if you filled in a printed version by hand) and email us your photos of the plastic and datasheet with the email heading: “Plastic Reduction Challenge” . We are extending this challenge a while longer to encourage participation in this valuable action.
*Photos and results will be posted in a gallery on our Consumption webpage soon.

If you would like to view the recording of On the Way To Plastic Free! see the video below:

If you would like take action and get involved in addressing consumption and plastic proliferation, fill in our Contact page and let us know of your interests!

Thank you to our promotional sponsors: Clean Marin, Drawdown: Marin, UPSTREAM, Recology Sonoma Marin, and Shoreline Unified School District-West Marin School Family Center and Advocate, Sparkl Reusables