Tell your state legislators: Thanks for acting to reduce plastic waste, now let's do more!

Every year it's becoming more and more clear: We need to turn off the plastic tap. Plastic waste is piling up in our landfills, our communities and our environment.

Thank your state legislators for their work to prevent plastic pollution in the 2023 legislative session, and encourage them to advance more solutions to reduce plastic soon.

Subject: Thanks for acting on plastic

Your Letter:

I am tired of seeing plastic waste littering on our roads, parks, and waterways. Every year it becomes more clear: we need to turn off the tap of plastic flowing into our communities and environment.

That's why I wanted to thank you for your part in passing the Plastic Pollution Reduction Act this legislative session (HB 1085), which will reduce unnecessary plastic waste from foam docking, small plastic packaging for personal care items like shampoo or soap used by hotels and other lodging establishments, and water bottles, by requiring newly constructed buildings built with water fountains to also contain bottle filling stations.

There is still a lot to do. Over one-third of all plastics produced are used in packaging, and approximately 85% of this ends up in landfills. In Washington, companies have no financial responsibility for what happens to the packaging they use for their products, and Washingtonians, cities, and counties are left to foot the bill.

The Washington Recycling & Packaging (WRAP) Act, which did not pass in the 2023 legislative session, would have made companies responsible for the costs of recycling collection and processing and put in place incentives for companies to use materials that are reusable, compostable, or actually recyclable and move away from environmentally damaging materials like plastic. This would also have expanded curbside recycling services to an estimated 360,000 households. Paired with the proposed bottle deposit system in the WRAP Act, these programs would improve recycling outcomes and keep valuable materials out of landfills, incinerators, and litter out of our communities.

We need to shift away from our throwaway culture and create an economy in which we produce less waste, build products and use packaging materials that can be reused or repaired, and recycle the rest.

Please do all you can in the 2024 legislative session to pass policies like the WRAP Act that will reduce waste.

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