How can we stop plastic from polluting our most beautiful natural places? From trails to beaches, parks to playgrounds, and even protected areas—plastic is impacting the world’s most revered landscapes. During the August webinar, we talked about efforts to truly honor nature by keeping plastic pollution out of it, including the campaign to urge U.S. Department of Interior Secretary Haaland to eliminate the sale and use of single-use plastics in U.S. national parks. PANELISTS - Lara Levison, Senior Director, Federal Policy, OCEANA - Sarah Barmeyer, Senior Managing Director, Conservation Programs, National Parks Conservation Association MODERATOR Heather White, Founder & CEO, OneGreenThing and Executive Advisory Board Member, Plastic Pollution Coalition

1. Plastic Free Outdoors:
Honoring Nature,
Preventing Plastic Pollution
August 25, 2021
WEBINAR
plasticpollutioncoalition

2. ABOUT US
plasticpollutioncoalition
Plastic Pollution Coalition is a growing
global alliance of more than 1,200
organizations, businesses, and thought
leaders in 75 countries working toward a
just, equitable world free of plastic
pollution and its toxic impact on humans,
animals, waterways, the ocean, and the
environment.
We educate, connect, and advocate
for a world free of plastic pollution.

3. plasticpollutioncoalition
● Participate in poll questions
● In Q&A: Post questions & upvote
questions
● Share on social
@plasticpollutes #plasticpollutes
@myonegreenthing
@sbarmeyer, @NPCA
@llevison, @oceana
WEBINAR TIPS

4. plasticpollutioncoalition
1. Tell us about yourself.
2. Where are you joining from?
3. Have you visited a National Park this
year?
4. Do you take your own reusables when
you visit a National Park?
POLLS

5. plasticpollutioncoalition
Lara Levison
Senior Director, Federal Policy
OCEANA
Heather White
Founder & CEO, OneGreenThing and
Executive Advisory Board Member,
Plastic Pollution Coalition
MODERATOR
TODAY’S WEBINAR
Sarah Barmeyer
Senior Managing Director, Conservation Programs
National Parks Conservation Association

6. plasticpollutioncoalition
Heather White
Founder & CEO, OneGreenThing and
Executive Advisory Board Member,
Plastic Pollution Coalition

7. National Parks: Origins & Purpose
● Created by Congress in 1916
● National Park Service mission is to “preserve unimpaired the
natural and cultural resources and values of the National Park
System for the enjoyment, education, and inspiration of this
and future generations.”
● National Park Service manages 423 individual units covering
more than 85 million acres

8. Eliminating Plastic Water Bottles
at National Parks Timeline
December 14, 2011: Obama Administration establishes policy to eliminate the
sale of water in disposable plastic, encourages hydration filling stations.
○ Applied in 23 of 417 parks, including Grand Canyon, Zion, Bryce &
Mount Rushmore
○ Resulted in yearly savings of up to two million water bottles
○ Eliminated sales of water bottles prevented up to 112,000 pounds of
plastic from being sold and discarded each year (up to 140 metric
tons of carbon dioxide emissions saved)
○ Between 276 to 419 cubic yards of landfill space saved

9. Timeline (Cont’d)
● August 16, 2017: Trump rescinds Obama policy memo, effective immediately.
● July 22, 2021: More than 300 nonprofits, organizations, and businesses send a
letter to U.S. Interior Secretary Deb Haaland urging her to direct the National
Park Service to ban single-use plastic.
● The letter calls for eliminating the sale and distribution of polystyrene-foam
products and single-use plastic bottles, bags, and food ware — including cups,
plates, bowls, and utensils -- in the national parks.

10. Heather White, Moderator
Founder & CEO, OneGreenThing
Insta: @onegreenthing
Twitter: @myonegreenthing
FB: @myonegreenthing
Clubhouse: @onegreenthing
Website: www.onegreenthing.org

11. plasticpollutioncoalition
Sarah Barmeyer
Senior Managing Director,
Conservation Programs
National Parks Conservation Association

12. Plastic Pollution
in
National Parks
NPCA.ORG
Sarah Barmeyer
Sr. Managing Director, Conservation Programs

13. The voice of America’s national parks,
working to protect and preserve our
nation’s most iconic and inspirational
places for present and future
generations.

14. Plastic Pollution Plagues Parks
• NPS manages 70 million pounds of waste,
equivalent to the weight of 155 Statues of
Liberty
• Single-use plastic waste is a significant
source of landfill waste
• NPCA + Subaru 2016 survey found that:
• More than one-third of park visitors
(35%) bring single-use water bottles to
parks
• Less than half of park visitors (49%) sort
and recycle their waste before leaving
• Nearly four out of five (79%) park visitors
would be in favor of eliminating
single-use water bottles to reduce waste
and clean up parks
© NPCA ZLI
© Ian Shive

15. • June and July 2021 set monthly
attendance records
• Between 2011 and 2019, NPS lost
16% staff capacity and saw a 17%
increase in visitation
Record Park Visitation
© NPCA

16. © NPCA ZLI

17. Park visitors play a big
role in solutions
• Advocate that NPS eliminate the sale
and distribution of single-use plastics
in national parks
• Bring your own water bottle and
coffee mug
• Know water refill station locations
• Make sustainable souvenir and supply
choices
• Choose reusable bags and materials
that can be reused
• Avoid buying single use items and
disposing of them in parks
• Know what can be recycled and
location of bins
• Encourage aggressive plastic
pollution reduction measures in
gateway communities
© NPS

18. NPCA.ORG
Sarah Barmeyer
Sr. Managing Director, Conservation Programs
sbarmeyer@npca.org

19. plasticpollutioncoalition
Lara Levison
Senior Director, Federal Policy,
OCEANA

20. Plastic Pollution in
National Parks

21. What is the problem?
Photo Credit: David Johnson/Just One Ocean

22. Single-Use Plastics Are the Most
Commonly Collected Items in Beach
Cleanups
Source: ICC 2019 Report
Straws, Stirrers Forks, Knives,
Spoons
Plastic Beverage
Bottles
Plastic Grocery
Bags
Plastic Cups, Plates

23. Plastic
Production to
Quadruple from
2014 to 2050
Source: UN Environment Programme and GRID-Arendal, 2016
Million
Metric
Tons
2013

24. Approach and Campaign Goals
Get Companies to
Offer Plastic-Free Choices
Pass Policies to Reduce
Plastic Use
Create Plastic-Free Zones

25. Report: Choked, Strangled, Drowned:
The Plastics Crisis Unfolding in Our
Oceans

26. Plastics in National Parks

27. Photo Credit: Acadia National
Park
Letter to Secretary
Haaland,
Department of Interior

28. Photo Credit: US Capitol Visitor’s
Center
Next Steps

33. Lara Levison
Senior Director, Federal Policy
llevison@oceana.org

34. plasticpollutioncoalition
TAKE ACTION
No Single-Use Plastics in Our National Parks
https://bit.ly/plasticfreeparkspetition

35. plasticpollutioncoalition
SAVE THE DATE
September 29
2-3 pm PT, 5-6 pm ET
Plastics and Climate Change:
How Single-Use Packaging is
Fueling the Crisis

36. plasticpollutioncoalition
GET INVOLVED
Join the Coalition
https://bit.ly/join-ppc-coalition
Support Our Work
https://bit.ly/ppc-donate-now
Contact Us
info@plasticpollutioncoalition.org

37. @plasticpollutes
CONNECT WITH US
@plasticpollutes
@plasticpollution
@plasticpollutioncoalition
plasticpollutioncoalition
CONNECT WITH US
@plastic-pollution-coalition