Our partners on the ground fight heroic battles every day to stop further petrochemical build-out, thereby slowing down the effects of extreme weather for us all. And when we called out to our community to help recover from Hurricane Ida, you responded, contributing over $9,000, and with a generous match from McPike Zima Foundation, we doubled our community’s donations and disbursed a total of $20,029.13. All of this money is going directly to:

Another Gulf is Possible Collaborative – $3,000

Gulf Coast Center for Law and Policy – $3,000

RISE St. James – $3,000

Louisiana Environmental Action Network (LEAN) – $3,000

Inclusive Louisiana – $3,000

The United Houma Nation – $1,000

Isle de Jean Charles Band of Biloxi Chitimacha Choctaw – $1,000

Pointe-au-Chien Indian Tribe – $1,000

Grand Caillou/Dulac Band Biloxi-Chitimacha-Choctaw – $1,000

Imagine Water Works – $779.13

Southern Solidarity – $250

We’re proud to be able to support these predominantly black- and indigenous-led and serving organizations as they rebuild and recover while simultaneously continuing to fight environmental degradation in their communities. It’s been a record year for global climate consequences. But if there’s one thing we’ve learned this summer, it’s this: the antidote to despair is getting more deeply involved in what matters to us. Our collective participation holds the key to unlocking systemic changes and passing the common-sense policies we need to rebuild better, centering inclusivity and sustainability. 

The post Hurricane Ida Rapid Relief: You Helped Us Raised $20,000 appeared first on Story of Stuff.

1. No Transparency + Questionable Data 

The study makes no attempt to reveal the methodology for how it collects its data, including no information about the number of participants involved or the geographies covered in the study. The study even uses the data to extrapolate the total amount of litter in the country, despite the clean-up events being limited to roads and waterways.

This becomes all the more of an issue when we see some of the conclusions at odds with data collection at other large clean-up events. For example, plastic beverage bottles are consistently in the top three most littered items in data from the Ocean Conservancy’s International Coastal Clean-Up Day and #BreakFreeFromPlastic’s annual Brand Audit, but account for less than 2% of KAB’s dataset.  

2. Centering ‘Litter’ As The Problem 

Focusing studies on litter frames the problem around ‘mismanaged waste’, with the implication that litter is inherently separate from the broader waste and plastic crisis. This is the wrong place to draw a line in the sand. The Story of Plastic pulled back the curtain on the fact that plastic — which forms a growing portion of our litter by the study’s findings — is largely an unmanageable problem. Just 2% of plastic is effectively recycled, the rest is downcycled, exported, landfilled or burned. 

A world free from litter won’t protect low-income and people of color that disproportionately make up the communities that live near fossil fuel extraction and refinery sites, nor the landfills and incinerators spreading toxic chemicals. 

3. A Consumer Problem With A Consumer Solution 

Despite the report acknowledging that an eye-popping 30,000 new types of packaged goods are brought to market annually, the study holds all Americans responsible for cleaning up litter. The report claims that if every citizen collected 152 pieces of litter, the problem would be over. The claim is absurd since it implies that there is a static amount of litter rather than a flow, resulting from the ever-increasing plastic packaging applications entering the market. 

Strikingly, while the report acknowledges that there was half the amount of litter in states with a deposit return system on beverage containers, it stops short of recommending the policy or any other regulation of single-use plastics such as ‘producer pay’ laws, a plastic tax, or a ban on any packaging types. It recommends further research and education, continuing the group’s long-term pattern of deflecting pressure from the companies who take no responsibility for the cost of their packaging.

If you are interested in local litter reduction efforts, take part in #BreakFreeFromPlastic’s Brand Audit, where data collected about what is collected is aggregated to a global dataset used to hold companies responsible for their branded plastic polluting our environment. 

The post Three Reasons Why Keep America Beautiful’s New Study is an Exercise in Corporate Misdirection appeared first on Story of Stuff.

Contact: Sam Pearse | sam@storyofstuff.org

New data from Reloop, exposing the number of wasted beverage containers per country, reveals that passing the federal Break Free From Plastic Pollution Act would see over 64 billion plastic beverage bottles recycled that are currently being burned, buried or leaked into the environment every year.

The figures come from a report What We Waste released today, showing that based on 2019 figures, the US currently wastes in excess of 74 billion plastic bottles every year, a number dramatically higher than any of the 93 countries assessed in the study (accounting for population). The report shows that wastage figures strongly correlate with two policies — the existence of deposit return systems for beverage containers and the market share of refillable beverage containers in the country. 

Plastic bottles ending up in landfills, incinerators and the environment would be sharply reduced by passing the landmark Break Free From Plastic Pollution Act (H.R. 2238, S.984) which was reintroduced by Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR) and Representative Alan Lowenthal (D-CA) in 2021. Among various policies in the legislation is a provision for a national deposit return program for beverage containers which mandates a recycling rate of 90% by 2032. Deposit return systems have proven to dramatically reduce the number of beverage containers leaking into the environment, and the federal bill would build upon the ten US states with such laws currently recycling the majority of the US’ beverage containers.

Sam Pearse, Campaign Manager at The Story of Stuff Project, said: 

“Data from beach clean ups repeatedly shows us that plastic bottles are one of the biggest sources of ocean-bound plastic. Deposit return systems — with strong targets like those set in the Break Free From Plastic Pollution Act can make deep inroads to plastic pollution, along with building the infrastructure for the reuse revolution we need.

The Break Free From Plastic Pollution Act already has over one hundred co-sponsors in Congress, now we need executive leadership from President Biden on the legislation. Supporting the act can help him achieve his goals on the climate and plastic pollution while reducing the life-cycle impacts of plastics disproportionately born by communities of color.”

Elizabeth Balkan, Director of Reloop Americas, said:

“Cans and bottles, whether plastic or glass, are valuable resources, and every time those materials are not recycled or reused it increases the demand for virgin materials. Now the real scale of these resources wasted across the United States can be estimated, and the numbers are gargantuan: 140 billion containers a year, for an average of 426 per person. Even that startling number will be a clear underestimate, given the known limitations of this dataset.  

“This wasteful approach means millions of tonnes of unnecessary climate emissions, substantial unnecessary cleanup costs for city, county and state governments, and ecological effects that will last decades. One worthwhile measure to reduce waste is at hand, though: a nationwide deposit on drinks cans and bottles, which forms part of legislative proposals already under consideration. This approach, used already in ten states and common in Europe, would reduce wasted cans and bottles here by 84%, and it is an option Congress should now be taking very seriously.”

Kirstie Pecci, Director of the Zero Waste Project and Senior Fellow at Conservation Law Foundation said:

“This bill is a win, win, win. Passing the Break Free from Plastic Pollution Act means we can recycle bottles and cans instead of burning and burying them – and it won’t cost taxpayers a cent. We can get to work phasing out polluting, dangerous, and expensive incinerators, most of which are located in communities that have already borne more than their fair share of air pollution. Finally, deposit return systems create good, green, local jobs. What’s not to love about that?”

# # # # # 

Contact 

• Sam Pearse, Campaign Manager, Story of Stuff Project | Sam@storyofstuff.org | 415-419-7499
• Elizabeth Balkan, Americas Director, Reloop press@reloopplatform.org | 646-492-0286 

Notes

• Reloop’s What We Waste report can be found here 
• The Break Free From Plastic Pollution Act can be found here, including a number of comprehensive policy interventions addressing plastic pollution 

The Story of Stuff Project is a 501(c)3 nonprofit working to transform the way that we make, use, and throw away Stuff so that it is more sustainable, healthy, and just.  www.storyofstuff.org

The post US Burning, Burying or Losing 74 billion Plastic Bottles a year to the Environment appeared first on Story of Stuff.

Contact: 
Michael O’Heaney, Executive Director
(510) 684-6417, michael@storyofstuff.org

CALIFORNIA – Today, California’s State Water Resources Control Board issued an updated Report of Investigation and draft Cease & Desist Order finding that Nestle Waters North America, now Blue Triton Brands, has failed to prove a valid right for the vast majority of water it removes from the San Bernardino National Forest for bottling. The report concludes the company may have a right to up to 7.26 acre feet of water annually, down from an initial estimate of 26 acre feet in its preliminary report of investigation, released in December 2017; in 2020, Nestle reported that it removed 180 acre feet, or roughly 58 million gallons, of water. 

READ THE WATER BOARD REPORT HERE

“Its time for Nestlé’s new owners to do the right thing and cease their operations in this National Forest, which belongs to all Americans. The company should accept the draft Cease & Desist Order and cede any remaining rights it may hold to the Forest Service to revitalize Strawberry Creek,” said Michael O’Heaney, Story of Stuff Project Executive Director. 

“I am pleased with the California water board’s Cease and Desist order. My hope is that the Strawberry Creek ecosystem can be restored in America’s San Bernardino National Forest,” said Amanda Frye, of Redlands, CA, whose research into Nestle’s shaky claim to a water right spurred the Water Board’s investigation. 

Nestle Waters North America, the owner of the Arrowhead bottled water brand, was recently acquired by One Rock Capital Partners and Metropolous & Co. in a $4 billion deal and is now operating as Blue Triton Brands.

O’Heaney continued: “Dean Metropoulos, Blue Triton’s interim CEO, has an opportunity to live up to his recent commitments to environmental sustainability and community well-being by ending the Arrowhead operations in the San Bernardino National Forest. What better way to turn the page on Nestlé’s well-earned negative reputation than by conceding this is the end of the proverbial pipeline.”

According to the Water Board, over the period from 1947 to 2015, Nestlé’s reported extractions from the springs in the SBNF have averaged 192 acre-feet, or 62.6 million gallons, per year. Over the three years since the Water Board’s initial Report of Investigation was released in December 2017, Nestle has removed 532 acre feet of water from the Forest, 25 times as much as the Water Board now says they may have a right to.

About This Campaign

For decades, Nestlé Waters — the world’s largest water bottler — has bought up access to public water across North America to turn our most precious public resource into a private commodity.

Nestlé Waters North America, has recently been acquired by two private equity firms, One Rock Capital Partners and Metropoulos & Co, in a $4.3 billion dollar deal that has rebranded the company as ‘Blue Triton Brands’. We’re shining a spotlight on six of the corporation’s bottling operations that have generated fierce backlash resulting from the impact on the surrounding communities and their ecosystems, and urging them to return the waters back to public stewardship. Visit our campaign page to learn more.

Watch

WATCH STORY OF STUFF FILM ON NESTLÉ’S WATER GRAB: This Land is Our Land

The post Press Release: Nestle Waters / Blue Triton Ordered to Cease Unauthorized Removal of Water from San Bernardino National Forest appeared first on Story of Stuff.

Contact: 
Michael O’Heaney, Executive Director
(510) 684-6417, michael@storyofstuff.org

Berkeley, CA — Nestlé Waters’ $4 billion sale of the country’s largest portfolio of bottled water brands to two private equity firms spells trouble for communities and ecosystems already feeling the strain of that company’s water extractions and plastic waste. The Nestlé brands being sold include regional bottled water giants Poland Spring, Arrowhead, Zephyrhills, Pure Life and Ice Mountain among others. The sale would represent one of the largest transfers of privately held water in recent memory. 

The Story of Stuff Project, a long-time Nestlé critic which has supported local communities’ rights to determine how their water is used, has issued the following statement: 

“Over the last decade, Nestlé Waters and its bottled water brands have encountered vocal community opposition to the impacts of its business practices, from the depletion of water sources to the plastic waste it creates, and more. This sale raises a number of pressing concerns that require the immediate attention of lawmakers, regulators and others charged with overseeing water bottling. 

Nestlé must not be allowed to simply walk away from the consequences it has imposed on communities and the environment in Canada and the US.

The entry of two private equity firms — who will be motivated to increase profitability through cost cutting — increases the likelihood that the limited commitments Nestlé has made to the communities that host its operations and to environmental sustainability will go down the drain. Indeed, as recently as last month Nestle was talking up its environmental and social credentials in efforts to win new permits to remove water in Florida and Colorado.  

In fact, Nestlé appears to be engaged in a historic feat of greenwashing, ducking its commitments to reduce the company’s plastics footprint by jettisoning its bulk bottled water brands in favor of brands like Pellegrino and Acqua Panna that are more likely to be packaged in aluminum or glass. For three years running, Nestlé has been one of the top three corporate polluters in the Break Free from Plastic movement’s annual brand audit. 

This past fall, we joined partners in calling on Nestlé to divest itself of six of its most bitterly disputed water sources in California, Colorado, Michigan, Florida, Maine and Ontario, Canada prior to any sale. 

Today, along with our partners in the United States and Canada, we call on elected officials, regulators and advocates to bring the light of public scrutiny to bear on this sale of our water, essential to life, to One Rock and Metropoulos. 

In the meantime, regulators should declare all of Nestlé’s current water extraction permits (many of which are disputed) to be void and prevent their transfer to One Rock Capital and Metropoulous.

Elected leaders should also pursue moratoria on any new permits to bottle water, from any source, by any corporation in Canada and the US.”

About This Campaign

For decades, Nestlé Waters — the world’s largest water bottler — has bought up access to public water across North America to turn our most precious public resource into a private commodity. Paying next to nothing in royalties, Nestlé makes billions of dollars a year selling our water. Over recent years, The Story of Stuff Project has supported and partnered with communities across the US and Canada fighting to take back public control of their water. With Nestlé now planning to sell its Nestlé Waters North America division, we’re shining a spotlight on six of Nestlé’s bottling operations that have generated fierce backlash resulting from the impact on the surrounding communities and their ecosystems. Visit our campaign page to learn more or add your name to the petition.

Take Action

We’re demanding that Nestlé end the extraction and revert control over these troubled waters back to local community control. Add your name to the petition!

The post Press Release: Transfer of Water to Private Equity Firms Stirs Opposition in U.S. and Canada appeared first on Story of Stuff.

February 2021 — Nestlé, the world’s largest corporate water bottler, is planning to sell its North American bulk bottled water business, which operates the brands Arrowhead, Poland Spring, Zephyrhills, Pure Life, Ice Mountain and others, to private equity firm One Rock Capital, according to news reports. This sale, for an estimated $4 billion, would be a massive private transfer of ‘water wealth,’ an especially ominous development in light of Wall Street’s accelerating interest in ‘water futures’ trading. 

This past fall, our coalition of national advocacy groups and communities impacted by Nestlé’s water extraction and bottling demanded that several particularly troubled and controversial Nestlé Waters’ sites be returned to public ownership before any sale. We delivered a joint letter co-signed by more than 100,000 people in the U.S. and Canada to Nestle’s Swiss corporate headquarters in November 2020. 

Now, the revelation of the proposed sale to One Rock Capital reveals the stark choices our communities and nations face to ensure real water security in the future for all life. Of greatest concern, this sale will continue the corporate control of water. The combination of decades of pollution, depletion of aquifers and effects of climate change make clean water scarcer. Tragically this combination of public risk and private greed creates the conditions where Wall Street seeks to transform water from being the source of life to a source of private wealth. 

Now is the time for real leadership, now is the time to end the bottling of water for profit. 

Nestlé’s motivation is clear: to shed itself of its responsibility for the plastic pollution and environmental degradation its water extraction and bottling has caused and the damage these scandals have done to their brand and bottom line. It is also clear that a private equity firm, freed of Nestlé’s reputational responsibilities, will seek to cut expenses at the cost of the limited promises its predecessor made regarding environmental sustainability and community benefit. 

Nestlé must not be allowed to simply walk away from the consequences it has imposed on communities and the environment in Canada and the US. 

First, because private equity deals like this are the least transparent and regulated of financial transactions, we call on elected leaders, regulators, advocacy groups and the media in Canada and the US to ‘follow the money’ and expose this deal to the highest levels of public scrutiny. 

There are many questions to answer, such as who is involved as investors or partners in the deal, including whether Nestlé will remain part-owner of these companies and whether non-US or Canadian investors are party to the deal; what One Rock’s intent is for the companies, which control a significant portion of the bottled water market; whether the new owners will be bound by the environmental, social and community commitments Nestle has previously made; and how communities and their leadership will be consulted and involved in decision making about this most precious resource. 

To Heal Troubled Waters  

Make no mistake: water is essential to all life. It cannot and must not be ‘owned’. Water should never be for sale and its ownership should never be privatized. Public stewardship is required to ensure future water security for all life. 

Communities in Canada and the US must seize this moment and make the following demands. 

• Declare all of Nestlé’s current permits to take water (many of which are disputed) to be void and prevent their transfer to One Rock Capital or any potential purchaser. 
• Declare a moratorium on any new permits to bottle water, from any source, by any corporation in Canada and the US. 
• Advocate for community-based plans providing: 
  • Just transition for workers in the bottled water industry; 
  • Economic transition plans for communities reliant on tax revenues arising from water bottling facilities; 
  • Reconciliation with Indigenous peoples’ rights to water; 
  • Restoration of the sources of these troubled waters and renewed investment in public water infrastructure to ensure affordable, accessible and clean water for all. 

Signers: 

The Story of Stuff Project (California) 
Wellington Water Watchers (Ontario, Canada) 
Our Santa Fe River (Florida) 
Michigan Citizens for Water Conservation (Michigan) 
Unbottle & Protect Chaffee County (Colorado) 
Community Water Justice (Maine)

About This Campaign

For decades, Nestlé Waters — the world’s largest water bottler — has bought up access to public water across North America to turn our most precious public resource into a private commodity. Paying next to nothing in royalties, Nestlé makes billions of dollars a year selling our water. Over recent years, The Story of Stuff Project has supported and partnered with communities across the US and Canada fighting to take back public control of their water. With Nestlé now planning to sell its Nestlé Waters North America division, we’re shining a spotlight on six of Nestlé’s bottling operations that have generated fierce backlash resulting from the impact on the surrounding communities and their ecosystems. Visit our campaign page to learn more or add your name to the petition.

Take Action

We’re demanding that Nestlé end the extraction and revert control over these troubled waters back to local community control. Add your name to the petition!

The post Public Statement on the Sale of Nestlé Waters appeared first on Story of Stuff.

For decades, Nestlé Waters — the world’s largest water bottler — has bought up access to public water across North America to turn our most precious public resource into a private commodity. Paying next to nothing in royalties, Nestlé makes billions of dollars a year selling our water. Over recent years, The Story of Stuff Project has supported and partnered with communities across the US and Canada fighting to take back public control of their water. With Nestlé now planning to sell its Nestlé Waters North America division, we’re shining a spotlight on six of Nestlé’s bottling operations that have generated fierce backlash resulting from the impact on the surrounding communities and their ecosystems. Read our public letter to Nestlé below, visit our campaign page to learn more, or add your name to the petition.

Read the letter

Ulf Mark Schneider
Chief Executive Officer, Nestlé SA
Avenue Nestlé 55, 1800 
Vevey, Switzerland

Vivek Bedi
Executive Vice President, Nestlé Waters North America
900 Long Ridge Road, Building 2
Stamford, CT 06902-1138

Adam Graves
President, Nestlé Waters Canada
101 Brock Road South
Puslinch, ON N0B 2J0

October 19, 2020 (Updated November 12, 2020)

Dear sirs,

Earlier this year, Nestlé announced its intent to offer its bulk bottled water brands in the United States and Canada for sale over the coming year. More recently, news reports indicate your company’s initial attempt to sell the Canadian Pure Life brand and assets to Ice River Springs was scrapped after you were unable to successfully navigate that country’s regulatory approval process.

Over the last several decades, Nestlé Waters’ North American operations have faced significant opposition from a number of communities across the United States and Canada. Although these communities vary widely in location and demographic makeup, the concerns they raise about Nestlé’s operations have been remarkably similar. The company’s proclaimed lofty commitments to these communities during permitting processes, including local hiring clauses and offers of charitable funds, have gone unfulfilled. The environmental impacts of the plastic bottles you sell have become a global crisis. Yet often the gravest concern raised by these communities is the impact your water removal has on the depletion of local aquifers, particularly during drought conditions, impacting local residents and ecosystems alike.

For example, we remain deeply concerned about the impacts of your water extraction and bottling activities in the following locations which are themselves emblematic of Nestlé’s broader, unethical approach to water extraction:

The Arrowhead complex in the San Bernardino National Forest, California (Arrowhead brand), which is currently the subject of a California State Water Resources Control Board investigation into your company’s questionable claim to the tens of millions of gallons of water you remove annually from these public lands.

The Ruby Mountain Springs complex in Chaffee County, Colorado (Arrowhead brand), for which your company is currently seeking a ten-year permit extension despite significant public opposition, including concern over an unfulfilled promise made when the original permit was approved to permanently conserve an undeveloped property along the Arkansas River.

The White Pine Springs complex near Evart, Michigan (Ice Mountain brand), where your company’s effort to increase withdrawals to 400 gallons per minute has been mired in controversy and remains subject to a final permitting decision by Michigan’s Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy. A formal complaint has also been filed with the Michigan Attorney General regarding the serious environmental damage already documented in the ecosystem of the two streams involved at a withdrawal of 150 gallons per minute. The public’s overwhelming opposition to this extraction is crystalized by the disparity between your company withdrawing hundreds of thousands of gallons a day for a nominal fee just 120 miles from Flint, where access to safe, clean drinking water remains a struggle for residents.

The Ginnie Springs complex near High Springs, Florida (Zephyrhills brand), where your company is seeking permission to increase withdrawals to nearly 1 million gallons a day, further threatening the flow of the endangered Santa Fe River’s iconic freshwater springs.  

The Aberfoyle complex of Nestle Waters Canada in Wellington County, Ontario (Pure Life brand), where your activities have inspired advocates to seek government approval for a plan to entirely phase out water-taking permits for bottlers. 

The Evergreen Springs in Fryeburg, Oxford County, Maine, (Poland Springs), where your company has taken advantage of private property laws to gain a 45-year permit to the springs while parts of Maine are now experiencing extreme drought.

While your company has publicly stated that the decision to sell your bulk water brands is based on business judgments, namely the desire to focus on premium water brands, there is little doubt that the nature of your bottling business and its adverse hydrological and environmental effects have negatively impacted your brand. Indeed, Mr. Schneider told The New York Times as much in June, admitting that ‘environmental concerns’ had hurt sales. 

We further believe that the controversies that have dogged your company are likely to have a significant bearing on the decision making of potential buyers (including some entities copied on this correspondence), who would themselves be inheriting both the toxic assets at the root of your conflicts with the public and the resulting reputational shadow.

We therefore believe it is Nestlé’s minimal responsibility — to the communities and the environment that have sustained your business — to divest these assets prior to any sale of your bulk bottled water brands. Indeed, to simply walk away from the adverse impacts of your business and pocket billions in profits and the proceeds of a sale after publicly taking on the mantles of ‘shared value’ and ‘environmental sustainability’ would be a betrayal of your purported commitment to these very values. 

We request that when the rights to these waters are privately owned, you revert those rights to the public trust, including through direct transfer to a park or other publicly controlled institution, to Indigenous peoples on whose treaty lands Nestlé operates, or through the creation of a conservation easement. Where access to waters is publicly granted, we request that you cease water extraction at these sites and abandon these permits and any associated rights. In all cases, it is critical that the company engage directly and meaningfully with local stakeholders, including Indigenous peoples, about the ultimate disposition of these waters. 

Over the last several years, Nestlé Waters has made a series of limited commitments to improve the sustainability of your business, from increasing the recycled content of your bottles to replenishing the watersheds from which you remove water. While many of our organizations have been critical of these promises—and none believe that water bottling can ever be truly environmentally sustainable—we also believe that taking the above divestment actions can be one small step towards reconciliation with local communities, Indigenous peoples and ecosystems negatively impacted by Nestle’s business practices. 

That is particularly crucial today, as drought-fueled wildfires burn in the western United States and communities around the US and Canada fight for access to clean, affordable water. Indeed, these concerns and others have inspired lawmakers in a series of US states and in Ontario, Canada to propose new, wide-ranging regulation of the bottled water business, from bulk extraction royalties to compensate the public for the use of a shared resource to limitations on the transport of water outside of the region from which it was taken.  

We request that you immediately begin a dialogue with local stakeholders about how best to revert these waters back to public control; their perspective is paramount. Additionally, should you be interested in discussing this proposal we invite you to contact Michael O’Heaney, the Executive Director of the Story of Stuff Project, at michael@storyofstuff.org.

Thank you for your consideration.

Sincerely,

The Story of Stuff Project
Corporate Accountability International
SumOfUs
Food & Water Watch
Campax
Wellington Water Watchers, Ontario
Unbottle & Protect Chaffee County LLC, Colorado
Our Santa Fe River, Florida
Michigan Citizens for Water Conservation (MCWC), Michigan
FLOW (For the Love of Water), Michigan
Steve Loe, Retired Biologist, US Forest Service, San Bernardino, CA
Amanda Frye, Redlands, CA

CC:

The Coca-Cola Company
Pepsico
Primo Water
Niagara
Refresco
Apollo

United States Forest Service
California State Water Resources Control Board
California Department of Fish & Wildlife
Chaffee County Planning Commission
Colorado Department of Environmental Quality
Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau
Ontario Premier Doug Ford
U.S. Representative Harley Rouda
U.S. Representative Rashida Tlaib
Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel
Florida Representative Anna Eskamani

Take Action

We’re demanding that Nestlé end the extraction and revert control over these troubled waters back to local community control. Add your name to the petition!

The post Public Letter: Nestlé’s Troubled Water appeared first on Story of Stuff.

Glitter isn’t just used in goodie bags. It isn’t just an annoying substance that gets everywhere. Glitter is in makeup, clothing, textiles, nail polish, crafts, lotions, and so much more. Even if you don’t realize it, you probably own glitter or a product containing it.  

If glitter is so small, why does it matter? I spoke with Helene Gardner, an environmental toxicology professor at UCSB, to get the answer to that question. She explained that the smaller the particles are, the worse they are for us. Because glitter particles are so small (typically less than 0.375 mm) they can make their way easily into our eyes, nose, mouth without detection. This is a problem for many reasons, especially because glitter is usually made of polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polyvinyl chloride (PVC), and aluminum (Gwinnet). PET breaks down into toxins that disrupt human and animal hormones, which can lead to many detrimental conditions and even death (Pax). Research has shown that PVC and aluminum are also linked to adverse health conditions such as reproductive disruptions and cancer (Rustagi). Additionally, the small size of glitter particles rules out compostable or recyclable plastic as an eco-friendly alternative. Compostable plastic must be processed in a facility to be broken down or “composted”, and recycling also requires transport to a facility. Now imagine coming home after a long day at a music festival and picking the glitter off your body piece by piece and then ensuring it will make its way to a facility capable of composting or recycling it. Never going to happen, right? 

More likely, you will rinse off the glitter and it will make its way down the drain and into the waterway, eventually ending up in the ocean. There, the plastic glitter will accumulate and contribute to the micro plastics building up in our oceans that are too small to remove, or be eaten by sea creatures, break down into toxic chemicals in their bodies, and eventually bio-accumulate in the food web. 

Not to worry, there is still hope for your shimmery dreams! Ecofriendly glitter is on the market. But how do you know it’s actually ecofriendly? First, shop from retailers that are transparent about their ingredients. Make sure it says 100% plastic free, and that it breaks down in freshwater and saltwater environments. Also, be sure the ingredients list doesn’t contain PET, PVC, or aluminum. Mica is often used as an eco-friendly glitter, but it often can’t be verified to be ethically sourced. These conditions should be easy to verify on the company’s website. If they aren’t you probably haven’t found what you’re looking for. 

I still cherish that memory of the blue glitter, even now when I am aware of the threat glitter poses to our natural environment. I have hope because I know that there are sound alternatives available, and people willing to make the change. Scientists across the world are calling for an all-out ban on plastic glitter. Preschools, music festivals, and some makeup stores in the UK are voluntarily instituting this ban. In 2015, Congress passed the Micro-Bead Free Waters Act, which banned “the manufacture and introduction or delivery for introduction into interstate commerce of rinse-off cosmetics containing intentionally-added plastic microbeads”. This is similar legislature to what we are calling for now, and sets a precedent for a plastic glitter ban. 

Will you make the switch to eco-friendly glitter? Will you urge your favorite cosmetic companies to make the switch as well? You can be a part of the change you want to see. Send your favorite cosmetic companies this article, or post on social media telling your followers why you are ditching micro plastic glitter with #plasticfreeglitter. I have attached a list of some of the main cosmetic companies still using plastic glitter, as well as a sample tweet that I encourage you to use. Don’t forget to tag those cosmetic companies! Let’s all do our part to keep our oceans sparkling clean.

Companies still using plastic glitter:

• Elf Cosmetics (@elfcosmetics)
• Milk Makeup (@milkmakeup)
• Tarte Cosmetics (@tartecosmetics)
• Benefit Cosmetics US (@BenefitBeauty on twitter, @benefitcosmetics on instagram)
• Urban Decay Cosmetics (@urbandecay on twitter, @urbandecaycosmetics on instagram)
• Dolls Kill (@dollskill)

These companies need to hear from you! Tweet or post on IG asking them to change their practices:

Sample Tweet: @(insert company) Micro plastic glitter pollutes our oceans and threatens human health. Will you commit to eliminating plastic glitter from your products? #glitterfreeoceans

Sources:

Gwinnett, Claire. “Your Glitter Habit Is Dangerous – Here’s 5 Reasons Why.” ScienceAlert, www.sciencealert.com/environmental-impact-plastic-based-glitter-biodegradable-alternatives-christmas.

Rustagi, Neeti et al. “Public health impact of plastics: An overview.” Indian journal of occupational and environmental medicine vol. 15,3 (2011): 100-3. doi:10.4103/0019-5278.93198

Sax, Leonard. “Polyethylene terephthalate may yield endocrine disruptors.” Environmental health perspectives vol. 118,4 (2010): 445-8. doi:10.1289/ehp.0901253

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The Swiss Government and Nestlé have a curiously close relationship. Several new appointments demonstrate the revolving door between the Swiss food and beverage corporation and Swiss public office. Last year, the former CEO of Nestlé, Peter Brabeck-Letmathe, was chosen to lead the Geneva Science and Diplomacy Anticipator, a foundation to regulate new technologies. Brabeck is well known for his statement declaring that the human right to water is an “extreme” position in a 2005 documentary. 

At Nestlé, Peter Brabeck spent most of his career battling all forms of state regulation of the private sector, the best-known case being the regulation of infant food marketing standards, particularly milk powder. Choosing Brabeck to chair this foundation indicates that the real purpose of this initiative is to prevent any form of regulation that might limit profits from the technological advancements of the private sector. It also indicates the recognition of Nestlé’s power within the Swiss Government.

A few months after the launch of this new foundation with Brabeck at the helm, the Government of Switzerland made another appointment tied to Nestlé. Christian Frutiger, Nestlé’s current Global Head of Public Affairs, will soon take over the Vice-Presidency of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC). This is the government agency responsible for development aid projects in other countries, particularly in the global south.  

This is a continuation of the growing collaboration between the private sector and the government, and specifically with Nestlé. The SDC supported the creation of the Water Resources Group, an initiative led by the world’s largest beverage companies Nestlé, Coca-Cola and Pepsi. The Water Resources Group is a tool designed by these corporations to privatize water under the guise of sustainability and development aid. Ironically, Switzerland has one of the best public sanitation and water distribution services in the world, but uses Swiss citizens’ tax money to support water privatization in other countries through the SDC partnership with Nestlé.

If appointed, Frutiger will be directly responsible for the SDC’s ‘Global Cooperation’ Division and the WATER program. Christian Frutiger started his career at Nestlé in 2007, and contributed to the success of the corporation’s bottled water products. In 2008, just a decade after its release, “Pure Life” became the world’s top-selling brand of bottled water. Frutiger was also instrumental in smoothing over Nestlé’s reputation in Switzerland after the corporation was convicted of spying on other groups and activists critical of its business practices. 

The appointment of Frutiger and Brabeck point to deep and far-reaching problems in global governance and water management. These actions reveal a link between the private sector and the Swiss government and a collective goal to deepen the privatization policies – especially around water – and corporate control over public resources. These new roles of Peter Brabeck and Christian Frutiger indicate that the transnational corporate sector is very consciously organizing and articulating itself at the government level to ensure that its demands and policy proposals are met.

The SDC does not consider problems with Nestlé in many parts of the world as a reason to re-evaluate its partnership with the company. There are very well-documented problems with Nestlé’s bottling operations and water pumping in the U.S.A, Canada, and France, for example – countries considered to be established democracies. What is common among all of these countries is that the governments always stand in favor of the company and against their own citizens. None of this seems to bother the Swiss Government, the SDC, or Christian Frutiger – and if such problems occur in these countries, what couldn’t happen in countries that are much more fragile in their social and political organization? As the current Head of Public Affairs of Nestlé, Christian Frutiger has done his best to ignore completely the problems created by his employer around the globe.

What is happening in Switzerland is just the tip of the iceberg – the visible part is the international articulation of big corporations, and the taking over of public space for political decisions by the world corporate oligarchy. We have to be vigilant and well organized to defend our waters, our earth, and our society from the corporate attack on the common good.

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WHAT THIS BILL DOES

The California Circular Economy and Plastic Pollution Reduction Act is the most ambitious state legislation introduced to slash plastic pollution. It phases out nonrecyclable single-use plastics, reduces demand for ‘virgin’ plastic, creates green jobs… and provides a model for other states to follow! Passing this bill will be a huge win for the global movement to end plastic pollution.

WHERE WE STAND

This bill passed the first vote in each house with a healthy margin. Now, we need to pass the second round of votes. If all the state Senators and Assemblymembers who voted YES the first time vote YES again, we’re golden. But industry lobbyists have this bill in the crosshairs, and are trying to significantly water it down… or kill it altogether. It’s make-or-break time for this groundbreaking bill.

THE STRATEGY

We’re launching a global push to deliver a simple message to the Senators and Assembly members who voted for this bill in the first round:

Thank you for your vote – now stay the course and vote yes in the next round – a global movement is watching and counting on you to do the right thing!

We’re inviting people from all around the world to sign on to this message, helping us keep the pressure on until this bill becomes law. We’ll deliver these message to the state capitol at a public event in August, shortly before the bill comes up for its final vote.

ACTIONS YOU CAN TAKE

There are a couple of ways you can add your voice:

• EASY: Sign our global solidarity card that we’ll hand deliver to legislators! ADD YOUR NAME!
• AWESOME: Share a photo of you with a “Thank You” message! UPLOAD YOUR PHOTO!
• EPIC: Write a “Thank You” card! Mail it to The Story of Stuff Project and we’ll deliver it to legislators in Sacramento. The Story of Stuff Project, Re: Plastic Bill, 1442A Walnut St. #272, Berkeley, CA 94709
• LOCAL: Do you live in or near Sacramento, California? RSVP for a day of action with The Story of Stuff Project to push this bill across the finish line. August 21, 2019. RSVP

There has never been a better time to make a difference – or a bigger need to take action. Every signature, photo, and card makes it more likely that we’ll win. Be a plastic hero and take action today?

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