70,000 volunteers from 50 countries cleaned up mountains of plastic trash. They found three companies were responsible for way too much of it.
Activists like you ratcheted up the war on destructive plastic pollution in 2019, and our efforts are working. Major companies like Starbucks have ditched plastic straws. As of this year, more than 400 cities and states have banned single-use plastic bags.
This year on World Clean Up Day — a day when tens of thousands of people clean up plastic litter — volunteers dug through the trash they picked up to figure out where it came from. Unsurprisingly, Coca-Cola, Pepsi and Nestle products made up such a huge amount of the haul that they were dubbed 2019's top polluters.
You and I both know how bad plastic is for the environment. It leaches into our water, poisoning wildlife and people alike with dangerous chemicals. It chokes marine animals who mistake tiny pieces of plastic for food.
These three companies know all of this too. Yet, their core products are still packaged in non-biodegradable plastic that will continue to damage our planet for centuries to come.
It's time for these industry leaders to actually lead the industry toward a more sustainable future. Demand Pepsi, Coca-Cola and Nestle reduce their plastic pollution now.