Environment North Carolina is knocking on doors in the Triangle to take on the waste that’s killing our wildlife

Environment North Carolina

Raleigh, North Carolina — Environment North Carolina is deploying hundreds of door-knockers this summer in the Triangle to help educate North Carolinians about the plastic waste that is killing our wildlife.

“Nothing that we use for a couple of minutes should pollute our waterways and ocean for centuries,” said Drew Ball, director of Environment North Carolina.

Polystyrene — the stuff we call styrofoam — is one of the worst kinds of plastic waste, often used for cups and food containers. Americans throw away an estimated 70 million polystyrene cups every day. About a third of that plastic waste ends up in our rivers, lakes and oceans. Plastics don’t biodegrade, which means they remain intact or break down into smaller pieces. Plastic fragments have been found ingested by literally hundreds of species, including 86 percent of all sea turtles and almost half of all seabird and marine mammal species.

Across the country, plastic foam bans have passed in more than 200 cities and other communities, from Portland, Oregon to Portland, Maine. Some companies are also leading the way. By the end of this year, McDonald’s will phase out foam cups and containers worldwide, in favor of 100 percent recycled materials.

Environment North Carolina is advocating for a statewide ban on polystyrene containers from restaurants to help protect our waterways and our wildlife.