More than 11 million tons of plastic pollute our ocean each year. Wildlife sadly mistake this plastic trash for food, and it can be fatal for seabirds, sea turtles, and whales. If we don’t act now, the amount of plastic in our ocean will triple by 2040. This ballot measure will reduce single-use plastics at the source so they never pollute our beaches and rivers.

Microplastics and other plastic-associated chemicals have been found in our drinking water, bottled water, table salt, fish, and shellfish, posing a risk to our health. This initiative will reduce plastic pollution and fund groundwater and local drinking water protections to safeguard public health.

California’s children and families deserve cleaner neighborhoods, parks, and beaches. This ballot measure would help fund environmental cleanup and restoration, especially in communities that have been unfairly burdened by pollution, from oil refineries and chemical plants, litter, and illegal dumping.

If plastics were a country, it would be the 5th largest emitter of greenhouse gasses globally. This initiative helps in our fight against climate change by reducing the need to extract oil, a key component of plastic manufacturing

Plastic items can take up to 1,000 years to decompose in our landfills. We simply cannot afford to keep producing trash that cannot be recycled. This measure will help increase the capacity to recycle and compost in California. It will also motivate producers to sell compostable packaging that can break down more quickly and work just as well as the single-use plastics clogging our landfills.

California communities pay over $420 million a year to clean up and prevent unnecessary plastic pollution from entering our rivers, beaches, and ocean. This ballot measure establishes a fee on producers of up to one penny per piece of single-use plastic packaging and foodware, so that plastic producers--not California residents--pay the cost of recycling their products that become trash. This initiative also prohibits plastic producers from passing the fee on to consumers.