Our Mission
Plastic-Free Colorado’s mission is to advance a plastic-free future for Colorado.
To achieve this, Plastic-Free Colorado uses a multifaceted strategy that includes advocacy campaigns, public education to raise awareness about the environmental and health impacts of plastics, and collaboration with local businesses through the Plastic-Free Colorado Collective.
Through these methods, Plastic-Free Colorado’s work addresses plastics on two fronts. First, by reducing plastic use at the consumer level, focusing on eliminating plastic from everyday products. Second, by tackling plastic pollution at the end-of-life stage, working to prevent plastic waste from harming Colorado’s environment. Our advocacy work spans several issues including plastic reduction, microfiber pollution, toxins in plastics, and plastics as a driver of climate change.
Colorado Needs a
Plastic-Free Future
Plastic pollution is everywhere in Colorado.
Studies have found microplastics in statewide waterways, snowpack, air, and soil. Simultaneously, plastic has been found to pose a variety of concerning threats to human and environmental health.
Plastic pollution in Colorado is largely due to the overproduction and overuse of plastic in everyday life. Further, most plastic is not recyclable despite messaging in the alternative. This leaves Coloradans in a difficult situation, where plastic items have become standard despite a limited capability to responsibly use and dispose of these items.
Our vision is to create a new standard by cultivating a plastic-free marketplace that empowers Coloradans to reduce plastic use, elevates local businesses making a difference, and takes action to address plastic pollution in the state.
Upstream Action, Downstream Impact
A plastic-free future for Colorado will have a far reaching impact.
As the headwaters state at the starting point of eight major river basins in the United States, Colorado has the opportunity to positively impact downstream and coastal states.
Rivers are a key method of transport for plastic pollution, migrating plastics from headwaters, through rivers, and eventually into the ocean. Therefore, inland states like Colorado play a crucial role in reducing the amount of plastic that enters waterways before reaching the ocean.
These are just a few of the reasons Colorado needs a plastic-free future. For more, check out the Plastic-Free Colorado blog for a deeper dive on plastic pollution in Colorado, its impacts on human health & the environment, and how we can collectively pursue a plastic-free future!