A Plastic People: Petrochemicals, Climate Change, and Our Health

Join us for Episode 5, the last episode of our journey together, where we talk about resilience and the ways our team copes with such a daunting fight against the petrochemical industry and climate change. And as always, be sure to check out the ways you can take action below! LEVEL 5 ACTION ITEM: TALK TO YOUR LOCAL OFFICIALS ABOUT PLASTIC POLLUTION This is what we’ve been building up to! Learn more about Moms Clean Air Force work with plastics and petrochemicals so that you can share the resources with your local officials about the toxic chemicals used to make plastic So we want you to be encouraged to speak or call your local officials’ offices, and use the resources on the Moms Clean Air Force website to back you up as you speak! Legislation Mentioned in Episode + Extra Reading/Viewing Materials: Pollution Act | Break Free From Plastic S.5163 - Protecting Communities from Plastics Act | Congress Environmental Justice for All Act gets new life | Southern Environmental Law Center Historic day in the campaign to beat plastic pollution: Nations commit to develop a legally binding agreement | UN EP Actions for addressing plastic waste under the Basel Convention | Basel Convention Plastics industry boom brings flood of new ethylene “cracker” plants, despite frequent environmental violations | Oil and Gas Watch Clean Air, Climate, Health Equity and Inequity: Are You Worried About the Climate Crisis? Part 1 | Video Clean Air, Climate, Health Equity and Inequity: Are You Worried About the Climate Crisis? Part 2 | Video List of Moms Clean Air Force Voices Featured in Montage (In Order of Appearance): Samantha Schmitz, DC Field Events Coordinator Danielle Berkowitz-Sklar, National Field Events Coordinator Melody Reis, Senior Legislative and Regulatory Policy Manager Stephanie Reese, Director of DEIJ and Strategic Implementation Isabel González Whitaker, Associate Vice President for Public Engagement Elizabeth Bechard, Senior Policy Analyst Almeta Cooper, National Manager, Health Equity Osasenaga Idahor, 2023 Summer Environmental Health Intern

Join us for Episode 4 of our journey to learn about the climate and health harms of using so much plastic, our unsuccessful disposal of plastic, and the challenges of recycling. And as always, be sure to check out the ways you can take action below! This Episode Featured: ⁠Cynthia Palmer⁠, Senior Petrochemical Analyst for Moms Clean Air Force LEVEL 4 ACTION ITEM: SUPPORT ALTERNATIVES TO PLASTIC AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE An example of an easy switch you can make is switching from buying shampoo in a bottle to shampoo bars Here are just a few resources that might help you as you start on your journey to living a life that is reliant on less plastic: The plastic problem isn't your fault, but you can be part of the solution | NPR and 10 Ways to Reduce Plastic Pollution | NRDC Extra Reading Materials: National Overview: Facts and Figures on Materials, Wastes and Recycling | US EPA ‘They’re in the air, drinking water, dust, food …’ How to reduce your exposure to microplastics | Health & wellbeing | The Guardian US only recycled 5 percent of plastic waste in 2021: Greenpeace report | The Hill How the fossil fuel industry is pushing plastics on the world | CNBC

Join us for Episode 3 of our journey to learn about the way plastic is transported and manufactured along with the health and climate dangers this presents. And as always, be sure to check out the ways you can take action below! This Episode Featured: ⁠Rachel Sica Meyer⁠, Ohio River Valley Field Organizer at Moms Clean Air Force LEVEL 3 ACTION ITEM: COME TO A MOMS CLEAN AIR FORCE EVENT Come to an event near you or join a virtual event Check the events calendar, sign up for an event, and we’ll see you soon! Extra Reading Materials: 2022 Pipeline Incidents Update: Is Pipeline Safety Achievable? - FracTracker Alliance NTSB Issues Investigative Update on Ohio Train Derailment | National Transportation Safety Board

Join us for Episode 2 of our journey to learn about where plastic comes from and why it's so dangerous for our health and climate. Be sure to check out the ways you can take action below! This Episode Featured: ⁠Roishetta Sibley Ozane⁠, previous Louisiana Field Organizer for Moms Clean Air Force LEVEL 2 ACTION ITEM: BECOME A VOLUNTEER FOR MOMS CLEAN AIR FORCE Moms Clean Air Force has millions of members across the nation who want to work to protect their communities from the plastic elephant in the room Even if you don’t live in one of the states with a huge presence of the petrochemical industry, the pollution from plastic is an issue that affects all of us because we all use plastic. So try to get involved! Extra Reading Materials: Study Finds Exposure to Air Pollution Higher for People of Color Regardless of Region or Income | US EPA Ingested microplastics: Do humans eat one credit card per week? | ScienceDirect ‘They’re in the air, drinking water, dust, food …’ How to reduce your exposure to microplastics | The Guardian

Welcome and thanks for joining us! This episode will introduce you to the basics of plastic production and the way it harms our health and climate. We hope you'll stick around until the end of the episode to learn about how you we can fight the petrochemical industry together! LEVEL 1 ACTION ITEM: SIGN A PETITION Let the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) know how you feel about protecting our communities from the toxic air pollution emitted by plastic manufacturing.  The EPA is a government agency whose mission is to protect human health and the environment. They need to hear from you! Extra Reading Materials:  What to Know About The Petrochemical Industry: Q&A Petrochemical Pollution and Our Health: Fact Sheet

Welcome to A Plastic People, a capstone podcast from Moms Clean Air Force hosted by Osasenaga Idahor! Moms Clean Air Force is a community of over 1.5 million parents and caregivers fighting for clean air and climate action. This capstone podcast takes a deep dive into the way our plastic-filled world harms both our health and the climate. Osasenaga and many special guests introduce us to the basics of plastic production and teach us about where it comes from, how it’s made, and why it’s a problem. And we know this can be a daunting topic, so make sure to take action with us along the way and stick around for our conversation about resilience in the last episode!