Beyond Plastic

This Valentine’s Day, we called on Amazon to “break up with plastic”

We delivered over 97,000 petition signatures to Amazon encouraging the e-commerce company to reduce plastic packaging

Beyond plastic

PIRG, Environment America, and Oceana delivered petition signatures to Amazon asking the e-commerce company to reduce plastic packaging
Ricky Osborne | Used by permission
PIRG, Environment America, and Oceana delivered petition signatures to Amazon asking the e-commerce company to reduce plastic packaging

This week I went to Amazon headquarters in Seattle and asked them to Break Up with Plastic. 

Online retailers like Amazon create an enormous amount of plastic waste with single-use packaging that we just don’t need. 

In fact, in 2021 Amazon generated 709 million pounds of plastic packaging waste, up 18% from the year prior.

Most of that plastic packaging is not recycled, but rather is landfilled, burned in incinerators, or breaks into small pieces in the environment. Micro-plastics have even been found nearly every corner of the globe, as well as human bodies, potentially exposing people to harmful impacts.

This problem is only going to get worse if we don’t do something about it.  Plastic packaging from e-commerce is estimated to double by 2027.

To tackle this growing problem, we’re calling on Amazon to eliminate single-use plastic packaging in their shipments. 

We know this is possible because Amazon has already committed to stop using single-use plastic in shipments within Germany and India, and recyclable and biodegradable packaging alternatives are available now.

But to get them to act, we need to show Amazon overwhelming support from the public. That’s why on Monday we delivered 97,000 petition signatures from our members and other supporters. 

We also handed out Valentine’s to Amazon employees and encouraged them to “show love for our planet and break up with plastic.”  

Amazon has yet to act, so we’ll keep up the momentum and continue showing them support from the public. If you haven’t signed a petition to Amazon yet, be sure to send them a message today.

See the Campaign
Topics
Updates

Show More