Activism: Global Citizen
Pollution from Plastic

Call on Governments and Business Leaders to Say No to Single-Use Plastics

Burgess COMMENTARY

Peter Burgess

Call on Governments and Business Leaders to Say No to Single-Use Plastics

A million plastic bottles are bought every single minute around the globe, and less than half of these are collected for recycling. Meanwhile, the US uses approximately 500 million straws every single day.

There are over 5 trillion pieces of plastic already in the ocean, and the world uses over 300 million tonnes of plastic every single year. There are more microplastics in the ocean than there are stars in the Milky Way — and, sadly, if we carry on on our current trajectory, there will be more plastic than fish in the sea by 2050.

Plastics clog our oceans, harm fisheries and can have detrimental impacts on the health of humans. A big culprit is single-use plastics like drinking straws, bottles, and bags that are unnecessarily polluting our environment and wreaking havoc on ecosystems.

A world without plastic consumer waste is a world that Global Citizens want to create.

Already, countries like Taiwan and the UK are stepping up with proposals to ban single-use plastics, recognizing the severe impact plastic waste has on the environment.

We call on government and corporate leaders to commit their power and resources to ending the distribution of single-use plastics and developing renewable plastics that won’t pose a threat to our planet and the people who inhabit it.

TopicsEarth DaySay No to PlasticsRefuseSingleUse
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Tell Corporate and Government Leaders that Single-Use Plastics Must Be Stopped

Dear Corporate and Government Leaders,

A million plastic bottles are bought every single minute around the globe, and less than half of these are collected for recycling. Meanwhile, the US uses approximately 500 million straws every single day.

There are over 5 trillion pieces of plastic already in the ocean, and the world uses over 300 million tonnes of plastic every single year. There are more microplastics in the ocean than there are stars in the Milky Way — and, sadly, if we carry on on our current trajectory, there will be more plastic than fish in the sea by 2050.

Our planet is being overrun by harmful plastics and something must change. As a Global Citizen, I’ve pledged to do my part to stop using single-use plastic, but we need your leadership to make a true collective impact.

I’m calling on you to commit your power and resources to ending the distribution of single-use plastics and developing renewable plastics that won’t pose a threat to our planet and the people who inhabit it.

Sincerely,