Category: Environment

A Comprehensive Article from Greenpeace: “Plastic Merchants of Myth: Circular Claims Fall Flat”.*

On By Brian BerardoIn Environment, Health, Plastics, Politics, Uncategorized

*PUBLISHED by Greenpeace U.S. DECEMBER 2025 GREENPEACE INC. 1300 Eye Street, NW Suite 1100 East Washington, D.C. 20005 – http://www.GREENPEACE.ORG

This is an incredible article. It is illuminating and packed with charts, summaries, and tables. Here’s the table of contents:

Executive Summary Circular Claims Proven False (2025 Update) Introduction: Unmasking the Merchants of Myth
1 Timeline of Deceit
2 Circles of influence
5 1. Mapping the Merchants of Myth: Members, Messages, Tactics
7 1.1.2 Petrochemical Industry 7 Propaganda techniques used by Petrochemical Industry trade associations
9 1.1.3 Consumer Products Industry
11 1.1.4 Organizations funded by the Plastics and Products Industries
12 1.2 Merchants of Myth: Main Deceptive Messages
14 1.3 Merchants of Myth: Primary Propaganda Tactics
16 1.4 Merchants of Myth: Circular Blame Game for Causes of Plastic Recycling Failure
21 2. U.S. and California Legal Requirements for Claiming Plastics Are Recyclable
23 2.1 U.S. FTC Green Guides Requirements
24 2.2 California Legal Requirements
25 how2recycle labels prohibited under the Truth in labeling Law
26 3. U.S. National Post-Consumer Rigid Plastic Waste and Recycling Assessment
29 3.1 Summary of Results
31 3.2 2025 U.S. Plastic Waste Generation by Type
32 3.3 U.S. Population Access to Curbside Recycling (Factor 1)
33 3.4 Percentage of U.S. MRFs That Accept a Specific Item (Factor 2)
33 3.5 Existing U.S. Recycling/Reprocessing Capacity (Factor 3): Assessment of U.S. Post-Consumer Rigid Plastic Waste Recycling/Reprocessing Facilities
35 3.5.1 Assessment Scope
35 3.5.2 Assessment Results
36 4. 2025 California Post-Consumer Rigid Plastic Waste and Recycling Assessment
41 4.1 2025 California Plastic Waste Generation by Type
43 4.2 Acceptance of Items in California Curbside Recycling Bins (Criterion 1)
44 4.3 Sortation of Items into Defined Streams in California MRFs (Criterion 2)
44 4.4 Recycling/Reprocessing Capacity for California’s Post-Consumer Plastic Waste (Criterion 3)
45 4.5 Contamination Levels in Plastic Waste Bales Produced by California
46 MRFS and Compliance with Basel Convention (Criterion 4)
5. Conclusion: what we are calling for
48 Appendix A: U.S. EPA 2018 Sustainable Materials Management Report – Table 8 for Plastics
50 Appendix B. 2025 Survey of U.S. Materials Recovery Facilities for Plastic Waste Item Acceptance in Curbside Recycling Bins: Survey Methodology and Public Transparency
52 appendix C: Survey of u.s. post-consumer rigid plastic waste recycling/ reprocessing facilities
53 Appendix D: Survey of U.S. Post-Consumer Rigid Plastic Waste Recycling/ Reprocessing Facilities
55 Appendix E: Master Survey of All U.S. Plastic Waste Recycling/Reprocessing Facilities
55 REFERENCES
62 endnotes

Time to Get Plastics Out of Kids Clothes

On By Brian BerardoIn Environment, Health, Plastics, Uncategorized

This just in from BeyondPlastics.org:


Spread the word about these companies’ plastic clothing to more people and build momentum for change.

Sign the petition to urge children’s clothing makers to reduce their polyester footprint. here

Here’s their message that arrived today from their email to me as a subscriber:

“Did you know that most clothing is made of plastic? In fact, polyester is now the most widely produced fiber in the world, accounting for more than half of all global fiber production.1

This is a particular concern for the youngest members of society. 👶👶🏾 Babies and kids are more vulnerable to the toxic chemicals used in plastics than adults because their brains and organs are still developing, they receive a higher dosage due to their smaller body size, and they tend to put their hands and clothing in their mouths often.2 😨

That’s why we’re working to protect children’s health by calling on three top children’s clothing-makers to stop using so much toxic plastic in their products. 🛑 Will you please join us by signing our petition to these brands? ✍️

Unfortunately, more and more clothing is made out of polyester—a form of plastic made from fossil fuels and synthetic chemicals that includes many chemicals of concern. ☣️👕👖👚

Defenders of Health’s 2025 Children’s Fashion Scorecard found that many of the chemicals used in polyester — including phthalates, bisphenols, and flame retardants—are known “endocrine disrupters”3 that interfere with the body’s hormonal system, which is essential to a child’s development. Studies have found that exposure to endocrine disrupters, even at low levels, can have long-lasting consequences in children.4

Add Your Name: Stop Making Kids’ Clothes from Plastic📣

On the bright side, there are safer fibers available to clothing-makers, including cotton, linen, wool, and hemp. ✅ And, just as they control the style and fit of the clothes they manufacture, clothing companies can also choose to cut down on polyester and other synthetic fabric in their products.

Please join us in urging leading children’s clothing makers Carter’s, H&M, and The Children’s Place to stop using so much of this plastic in their products. Add your name to the petition here.

  • In 2024, H&M reported that polyester makes up 22% of its clothing, with other synthetic fabrics including acrylic, elastane, and cellulosic fiber fabrics like viscose, modal, and lyocell accounting for an additional 12 to 22% of its products.5
  • In 2024, Carter’s reported that polyester makes up 28% of its clothing, with the synthetic fabrics viscose and elastane accounting for an additional 2.8% of its products.6
  • In 2022, The Children’s Place reported that polyester makes up 17.9% of its clothing, with the synthetic fabrics modal, viscose, nylon, elastane and acrylic accounting for an additional 2.6% of its products.7

That’s a whole LOT of plastic. 🆘

We believe that all babies and children deserve to wear safe, non-toxic clothing that will not threaten their health or harm the environment.

Please join Beyond Plastics and our allies at Defend Our Health in urging these companies to commit to reducing their polyester footprint and providing more transparency about the chemicals used in their clothing. Click the button below to add your name to the petition. ⬇️

Stop Making Plastic Kids’ Clothes

Then please spread the word to reach more people and build momentum for these companies to act.

Thank you for your help.

Cheers,

Judith Enck
President, Beyond Plastics
Former US EPA regional administrator”

Judith Enck

Donate to fight plastic pollution

References:

1. https://textileexchange.org/app/uploads/2024/09/Materials-Market-Report-2024.pdf
2. https://www.oecd.org/en/publications/estimating-mouthing-exposure-in-children-compilation-of-case-studies_debe99f0-en.html
3. https://www.endocrine.org/-/media/endocrine/files/advocacy/edc-report2024finalcompressed.pdf
4. https://defendourhealth.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Fashion-Scorecard-Report-2025.pdf
5. https://hmgroup.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/HM-Group-Sustainability-progress-report-2024.pdf
6. https://cdn.bfldr.com/7AQFZOE0/at/3z75gg9c6jxxrqnmm7vsksqf/2024_RTF_Impact_Report.pdf
7. https://corporate.childrensplace.com/static/TCP-2022-ESG-Report-Final-85d3db4e7e0d6e97bdfd2425839573c5.pdf

Tell Your U.S. House of Representatives to Support the Microplastics Safety Act Today

On By Brian BerardoIn Environment, Health, Plastics, Uncategorized

This came in today from Environment America:

It’s bad enough that researchers keep finding plastic trash blocking the digestive tracts of dolphins. Or “shocking” levels of smaller plastic particles, known as microplastics, in sea turtles.1Now scientists are finding microplastics in people too, and they’re growing increasingly concerned about the impacts on our health.That’s why we’re urging the U.S. House of Representatives to pass the Microplastics Safety Act, which would require the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to study the impacts of microplastic exposure on human health.2Add your name. Tell your U.S. House representative to support the Microplastics Safety Act today.Research suggests microplastics in people could lead to inflammation, lung and liver effects, and a disturbing list of other health problems. But the researchers need to do more. And given increasing plastic and pollution, we can’t wait long for the answers.Just as a turtle doesn’t know that it’s eating a plastic bag instead of a jellyfish, most of us don’t know that we’re ingesting plastic dust from plastic-wrapped tomatoes and peppers, plastic water bottles or even the air we breathe.3 Nor do we know what all this plastic is doing to our health. We’re guinea pigs in a massive science experiment that nobody authorized.Researchers have found links between microplastic consumption and health issues ranging from inflammation to rising rates of cancer and more.4,5 But they need to do much more research to determine how strong these links are — and how worried we should be.The Microplastic Safety Act would help fill this knowledge gap by directing the FDA to conduct a comprehensive study of the impacts of microplastics on our health. And this bill has something rare in Congress these days: bipartisan support.Will you tell your U.S. House representative to help protect our health from microplastics?The Microplastics Safety Act wont stop the flow of plastic waste and pollution into our environment and our bodies. But it could result in powerful new evidence for why we must stop this pollution — not only to save sea turtles and dolphins, but people, too.Congress has an opportunity to take a step in the right direction to help us all better understand how microplastics affect human health. Ignoring the threat of microplastics to our health is unacceptable.Urge your U.S. House representative to support the Microplastics Safety Act today.Thank you,Lisa Frank
Executive Director

1. Rob Hutchins, “‘Shocking’ levels of microplastics found in sea turtle organs,” Oceanographic, January 4, 2025.
2. “Bynum introduces legislation to examine the impacts of microplastics,” Office of Congresswoman Janelle Bynum, July 17, 2025.
3. Grace Vickers, “Studies show how microplastics from packaging get into our food,” PIRG, July 21, 2025.
4. Nina Agrawal, “What Experts Want You to Know About Microplastics,” The New York Times, May 20, 2025.
5. Beth Dougherty, “Microplastics and Cancer: Your Questions Answered,” Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, March 7, 2025.

Environment America, Inc.
1543 Wazee Street, Suite 410, Denver, CO 80202, (303) 801-0581
Member Questions or Requests: 1-800-401-6511
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An update from the program “Only One” forwarded from my friend Dennis Ledden

On By Brian BerardoIn Environment, Health, Inspiration, Plastics, Politics, Uncategorized
In what could be the final round of negotiations for a Global Plastics Treaty, governments might as well be wrapping things up in plastic.
A strong outcome could make this a once-in-a-generation opportunity to rein in plastic pollution and deliver binding rules to hold polluters accountable.
But all seems status quo out in Switzerland where the UN meetings are taking place, and without strong leadership and commitments, the Treaty could end up toothless — full of promises but short on impact.
Here’s a quick look at what’s happening in Geneva:♳ What’s at stake
This round of UN negotiations will determine whether the Treaty:Caps virgin plastic production, or lets it keep rising uncheckedBans harmful additives and single-use plastics, or merely encourages voluntary changeIncludes strong enforcement and global funding, or leaves countries on their ownThat’s why we’re calling for a treaty that is legally binding, ambitious, and fair — one that puts people and planet over profit.
 Headlines you should seeTotal infiltration: how plastics industry swamped vital global treaty talksLobbyists from the plastics and fossil fuel industries have flooded past meetings, threatening to derail meaningful progress.
World in $1.5tn ‘plastics crisis’ hitting health from infancy to old age, report warns
Plastic pollution is fueling a global health emergency and costing the world economy over $1.5 trillion each year — driven by a 200‑fold surge in production since 1950, with amounts projected to nearly triple by 2060. 
Plastic-clogged ‘Thinker’ sculpture highlights pollution crisis as UN treaty talks beginA towering “Thinker” sculpture outside the UN was buried in plastic waste to spotlight the growing threat plastic poses to human health and future generations as treaty talks began.
 Add your name
The future is as yet unwritten. With public pressure, we can still shape a treaty that curbs plastic production and delivers justice for communities impacted by pollution.
Share the petition today and stand with us in calling for a strong Global Plastics Treaty.
For a cleaner, healthier planet,The Only One Team


We have only one planet and only one ocean, and there is only one way to do this: Together.
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Keep the Faith, Hope, and Embrace Non-Violent Action!!!

On By Brian BerardoIn Environment, Forestry, Health, Inspiration, Plastics, Politics, Uncategorized

These are indeed dark and deeply disturbing days we’re having to witness. Faith and hope are always welcome allies, but we’ll also need non-violent action in the days to come to stem the tide of brutality and injustice that’s being foisted upon the people by the current administration.  There isn’t room here to iterate the wrongs being committed.

FWIW (For What It’s Worth) I have found a great source of comfort in reading the many wonderful articles to be found in Substack.com. It’s more than people ranting and raving about what we’re up against. There are also writings that bring comfort, inspiration, and perspective. One among many is Dino Alonso. This website/application is a truly excellent model – it doesn’t cost a dime to subscribe. If/when you find an author, or you yourself wish to contribute as one, you will find a host that is more interested in disseminating ideas than making money. Blessings on you and yours!

A bit of good news for a change:

On By Brian BerardoIn Environment, Forestry, Good News, Health, Plastics, Politics, Uncategorized

With all of the environmental setbacks we’ve been experiencing of late, there’s some heartening news from the United Nations. At the very least, it’s a step in the right direction. U.N.’s top court says failing to address climate change could violate international law:
https://www.nbcnews.com/science/climate-change/un-top-court-icj-climate-change-international-law-reparations-rcna220528

Indivisible And Partners Announce ‘NO KINGS’ Nationwide Day of Defiance on Flag Day, During Trump’s Birthday Parade

On By Brian BerardoIn Environment, Forestry, Health, Plastics, Politics, Uncategorized

That’s Saturday June 14th. Check your local Indivisible chapter for exact time, but they’re usually at Noon. This administration is actually openly proposing doing away with Habeas Corpus, better known as “Innocent until proven guilty”, a cornerstone of this democracy. This is in addition to doing away with “Due Process” and the constitution. Who’s next? Silence is NOT an option!

Join a Nationwide Protest on April 5th

On By Brian BerardoIn Environment, Forestry, Health, Politics, Uncategorized

Until this evening, I was unfamiliar with the website wardrobeoxygen.com, but they’ve done a splendid job of laying out the various groups that are organizing and why they’re doing so. We’re at a pivotal time in our nation’s history and this is not the time to sit on the sidelines. Please check out this website if you care about what’s going on in the United States today and want to understand the scope of this event: https://www.wardrobeoxygen.com/details-on-the-april-5th-national-day-of-protest/ .