We ask your support for the following effort from the US Public Interest Research Group:

TELL YOUR GOVERNOR: IT'S TIME TO SOLVE OUR PLASTIC WASTE PROBLEM

Across the United States, only 34.7 percent of our waste gets recycled.¹ That means that two-thirds of the trash we produce goes straight to the landfill.

But improved recycling rates alone won't solve our plastic waste crisis. The best way to reduce the amount of trash clogging our landfills is to simply produce less of it.

Tell your governor today: Support a ban on the single-use plastic items that are polluting our planet.

Polystyrene foam cups and containers -- the kind we get from coffee shops or restaurants -- are among the worst, and most common, forms of single-use plastic waste. Polystyrene foam breaks down easily and persists in the environment as microplastics.

The Environmental Protection Agency estimates that we produce more than 3 million tons of polystyrene every year -- every bit of which is still out there, filling our landfills, littering our streets, or polluting our environment.²

Nothing we use for a few minutes should pollute our future for hundreds of years -- especially when we don't really need it. There are plenty of reusable or biodegradable alternatives out there.

That's why U.S. PIRG and our national network are focusing on winning bans on polystyrene foam containers in cities and states across the country.

Will you add your name to help solve our country's plastic waste problem?

We've had success with this tactic in the past. Our national network has won more than 54 pro-recycling laws, plastic bag bans, and other policies to reduce, reuse and recycle waste in 16 states.

With your support, we can persuade our state leaders to take action.

Tell your governor to support a ban on single-use polystyrene foam today.

Thank you,

Faye Park

President, US PIRG

1. "Advancing Sustainable Materials Management," Environmental Protection Agency, July 2018.

2. Catherine Solyom, "Now and forever: The Styrofoam dilemma," Postmedia Network Inc., Accessed December 5, 2018.