Plastic pollution has become a worldwide concern. It is estimated that the equivalent of 2,000 garbage trucks full of plastic are dumped into the world’s oceans, waters, rivers, and lakes every day, and nanoparticles are in the soil, food chain, and in our bloodstreams. This is an important topic this year for the Earth Day Organization and the United Nations. HEAT (Hillwood Environmental Action Team) will be tackling this reduction goal in a two-part approach. 

• HEAT has employed a signature campaign for Hillwood staff, volunteers, and stakeholders as a way to pledge our commitment to plastic use reduction in our daily lives, encouraging our community to sign as an indication of their dedication and willingness to participate.  

• Each Hillwood department will be asked to assess and measure their own plastic usage, in order to make simple reductions in 2024 and plan for more complex cutbacks in 2025. 

Wherever you are on your sustainability journey, here are a few resources about plastics to further the conversation.

• UN's Plastic Pollution page, includes stories, reports and tips from around the world
• EarthDay.Org's Babies VS. Plastics report, a chilling look at microplastics in the human body
• EarthDay.Org's Earth Hub, presents fact sheets, toolkits, quizzes, and more on plastics and other sustainability-related topics

HEAT has gathered suggestions from different resources. Please find the tips here.