Join the "Plastic Stoppers" team!

We now know that plastic pollution is causing all kinds of problems in our environment. People are starting to take action to reduce our dependence on single-use, so-called "disposable" plastics, and researchers are developing techniques to help remove plastic particles from our environment.

Cooperative Energy Solutions is working to identify best practices at every level from individual households to the planetary scale. We're ready to work with others to test and demonstrate practical, safe, and cost-effective options for: (a) alternatives to plastics that are made from fossil fuel; (b) techniques for collecting and converting plastic wastes; (c) policy priorities and mechanisms for reducing plastic use and disposal; and, (d) methods for removing plastics from our land and water.

I heard this week, that we are each consuming up to a credit card worth of plastics, into our human bodies, because of contamination in our environment, including in our food packaging. The Environmental Working Group (2024, with a link here) says equivalent to a dozen plastic bags per year.

Let's work together to make some progress, step by step and year by year to find ways to use less plastic to begin with, and keep what we are using out of the environment.

RESOURCES

REFERENCES

• Beth Gardiner's new book "Plastics, Inc" gives a comprehensive picture of plastics. https://www.bethgardiner.com/ Listen to this "Fresh Air" Interview with Beth that aired in our Mid-Michigan on April 1, 2026: https://www.npr.org/2026/04/01/nx-s1-5763690/the-oil-industry-is-betting-big-on-plastics-heres-what-that-means-for-the-future (35-minute interview).