The Real Culprit Behind Plastic Pollution

I think we’ve all heard this one before: “You know your plastic straw is killing all the sea turtles, right?”

I have never liked this sentiment, mainly because it puts the blame on the individual for such a huge issue that often we have no control over. 

Let’s get one thing straight: Consumers did not create the plastic pollution problem. Corporations did. 

Industry leads us to believe that consumer choice and poor waste management has caused this crisis, when in reality this is a production issue. Corporations produce way too much plastic. And we are often presented with no alternative to products wrapped in plastic. 

People have always consumed products. But corporate plastic pollution is a relatively new problem.

Here I will outline the top polluters, and ways we can help end the corporate era of plastic.

The Top Polluters

The Plastic Waste Makers Index names the 20 companies that are responsible for over 50% of single-use plastic that ends up as waste worldwide. 100 companies produce 90% of global single-use plastics.

The top 5 plastics polymer producers are:

1. ExxonMobil
2. Sinopec
3. Dow
4. Indorama Ventures
5. Saudi Aramco

20 of the world’s largest banks have lent about $30 billion for single-use plastic polymer production since 2011. 

The top 5 banks financing polymer producers are:

1. Barclays
2. JPMorgan Chase
3. Citigroup
4. Bank of America
5. HSBC

The 2021 Brand Audit Report names 10 more corporations responsible for polluting our beaches with plastic waste. 

The top 5 plastic polluters in 2021 are:

1. Coca-Cola
2. Pepsico
3. Unilever
4. Nestle
5. Procter & Gamble

These corporations are responsible for the unfathomable amount of plastic in our oceans, not that one plastic straw in your smoothie. And corporations love to shirk the responsibility of pollution onto the individual, while branding themselves as ‘environmentally friendly’.

Oh, and most of the companies on those lists are also the top greenhouse gas emitters too. So we have them to thank for plastic pollution and climate change. 

It’s really no secret that corporate giants are destroying our environment at this point. But… what can we do about it?

6 Ways To Fight Corporate Plastic Pollution

This issue sometimes seems too big to tackle on our own. But that’s why we need community action to see any foreseeable change to this problem in the future.

Here’s a few things you can do to help this problem:

1. Organize or participate in a boycott 

Skipping your bottle of coke at lunch tomorrow will not do much to impact corporate profits. But… if everyone stops buying coke, that’s sure to make a statement. 

Organizing boycotts is the easiest way to impact profits for these corporations. Continued negative publicity and losses of sales can be enough to spur them to take some sort of action.

The Boycott Organizers Guide is a great resource if you want to help contribute to a boycott, and learn of examples of boycott victories.

2. Join a community action group 

The Plastic Pollution Coalition is a great group to join to help fight corporate plastic pollution. They have guides on breaking free from plastic, present real-world solutions, and hold beach cleanup events you can participate in. 

Break Free From Plastic is another organization you can join that conducts brand audits. Basically you can collect plastic trash in your community, collect data on where this plastic came from (it is usually clearly labeled), and you send this data to them to be included in the annual report. 

This helps give a better picture of where the most plastic pollution comes from, and the more people that participate, the better the data will be. Plus it helps clean up spaces in our communities.

3. Support legislation that curbs plastic production (and vote!) 

Laws and bans are the most effective ways to reduce corporate plastic pollution on a mass scale. 

On March 2 2022, representatives from the United Nations agreed to begin writing a legally-binding treaty to begin tackling plastic waste on a global scale. This is a huge step in the right direction, and supporting this decision is crucial to help the plastic problem. 

You can also vote for politicians who support ending subsidies for fossil fuel companies. In 2020, fossil fuel companies received at least $3 billion in coronavirus aid from the US government. This took away federal aid from small business and frontline workers, and put it back in the hands of polluters who were struggling because of unsustainable business practices. 

If you’d like to learn more, here is a Legislative Toolkit on how to reduce plastics through laws and accountability. 

4. Shop locally and buy less from big brands

I will reiterate again: consumers are not to blame for the plastic crisis. But the less demand there is for single-use plastic products, the less corporations will make them. 

Shopping locally is a great way to put money back into your community, instead of in the hands of big corporations. Local stores are also more likely to respond to your requests for more sustainable products.

The more we shop local, the less we support powerful corporations and the unsustainable products they push on us. And the less we rely on them for our products, the better our society will become.

5. Spread the word and donate to your favorite cause 

There are already amazing communities of environmentalists out there tackling the world’s biggest problems right now. Donating to a cause you believe in is one of the best ways to spread your wealth and help with this immense problem. I love Ocean Conservancy, Oceanic Society, and The Ocean Cleanup. 

And if pulling out your wallet is not your style, that is quite alright. You can help support these organizations by following their story and being invested in their cause. 

Sharing articles on social media and starting conversations with people is the best way to start the mindset shift that is needed!

6. Believe that change is possible

I struggle with this one a lot, but it is important nonetheless. If we resign ourselves to the status quo and tell ourselves, “This is just the way things work today. There is nothing I can do to change it,” we put the power back into the hands of the oppressor. 

If we don’t believe that change is possible, then no change will happen. 

But if we take action, even in a small way, we can begin to see the good that comes with taking charge. 

And that is the power of community action. One voice might just seem as meaningless as a single piece of plastic floating in the ocean, but our voices combined are sure to have an impact the world can see.

So surround yourselves with like-minded people that share the same values as you. Remind yourself to stay positive, and don’t focus on all the bad in the world all at once. Because together we can make a difference. 

Here’s my favorite quote about staying positive:

“I like to envision the whole world as a jigsaw puzzle… If you look at the whole picture, it is overwhelming and terrifying, but if you work on your little part of the jigsaw and know that people all over the world are working on their little bits, that’s what will give you hope.”

-Jane Goodall