As we head into the holiday season and all the over consumption that can trigger in some parts of the world, it’s important to recognize that our buying habits directly feed the plastic pollution crisis.  Because practically every new product carries a plastic footprint through its plastic packaging, production, and shipping. By choosing to buy less, or skip impulse purchases altogether, we can reduce the amount of plastic entering our environment and even our own bodies.

That is because so much of the food we eat has come into contact with plastics, from plastic-coated fertilizers and mulches used in farming, to the packaging around your sandwich or the plastic lining in canned foods. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization, in 2019, the global food system relied on over 12.5 million tonnes of plastic in agricultural production alone and another 37.3 million tonnes in food packaging – that’s the same as encasing the Earth’s equator in plastic wrap over 112,000 times! 

The modern food industry relies on plastic at every stage.  The issue is that all plastics, be it in the food industry or any other industry, in the end breaks down, shedding microplastics which are about the size of a grain of rice or smaller.

Tiny Plastics Particles Are a Problem

As a result these microplastics are now found everywhere: in our oceans, rivers, soil, the air we breathe, and yes, in the food we eat! 

Here’s how – plastic can be ingested by animals, eventually entering the human food chain via seafood, livestock, and crops. Research has shown that marine organisms, such as shrimp and fish for example, ingest microplastics from the ocean. In fact a study in 2024, by the Ocean Conservancy and the University of Toronto, found microplastics in nearly nine out of ten protein samples. This included animal proteins, such as beef, pork, seafood, chicken, as well as plant-based options. It’s not just protein, studies have found leafy and root vegetables absorb microplastics from contaminated soil and water too. 

Microplastics can enter our bodies when we consume contaminated foods. Researchers estimate that adults in the United States may ingest nearly 4 million microplastic particles per year from protein sources alone.  Highly processed foods tend to contain more microplastics than raw or minimally processed items, making diet choice an important factor in exposure.

These microplastics  can leach a cocktail of toxi plastic chemicals into our bodies. While scientists are still studying the long-term health effects of this plastic exposure, these toxic substances are linked to a large range of human health issues, from Alzheimer’s, infertility, some cancers. How did we end up in this plastic mess?

Farming and Plastics

Plastic has silently invaded the global food system. Beginning on our farms, from plastic wraps over mulch and fodder to polytunnels, irrigation tubes, and microplastic coated fertilizers and seeds, it touches nearly every stage of crop production. Plastic mulching alone accounted for almost 40% of the global agriplastic market between 2013 and 2019. These plastics don’t just linger in the soil—they break down into microplastics that can leach harmful chemicals into the food we eat, quietly affecting human health and the environment long before the products reach our plates.

These materials promise benefits, such as reduced weed pressure, improved moisture retention, cost-effectiveness, and pest protection.Yet they come with hidden costs: As of 2016, 40-50% of the plastic used in farming processes has soil and plant debris on it meaning that it is rarely recycled. And instead is likely burned, buried or landfilled. Additionally, plastic film breaks down into microplastics that contaminate the soil, which end up in our food.

While there may be gaps in our knowledge on just how much plastic is in our soil,  U.S farms that use plastic sheets for mulching have 75% higher microplastic concentration in their soil than farms who don’t use these plastic sheets. So, even if the food these farms sell isn’t wrapped in plastic at the store, it might still contain plastic due to how it was produced. 

Processing, Packaging, and Distribution

But plastics don’t stop at the farm. During processing and packaging, food can absorb microplastics from equipment. 

Once packaged, single-use plastics dominate the global food system, enabling long-distance transport and extended shelf life. Which is why in 2016, roughly 50% of all fossil fuel–based plastics were used for food packaging alone. The same properties that make these plastics so useful, durability, flexibility, and moisture resistance, also make them non-biodegradable, and contribute to the growing plastic pollution crisis.

Plastic additives chemicals like phthalates, bisphenol A (BPA), and per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAs) are all used to make food packaging. Phthalates are commonly found in soft plastics and cling wraps, BPA in hard plastics and food can linings, and PFAs in non-stick coatings, greaseproof paper, and waterproof packaging. 

Storing our food in this packaging can cause yet more plastic to leach into our meals.   Especially under heat, light, or prolonged storage, plastic chemicals from packaging can leach into the food we eat. Many of these chemicals are known as endocrine disruptors and have been linked to adverse health issues, such as infertility, obesity, and development issues. In effect, the very chemicals designed to preserve and protect our food may quietly be harming our health.

More plastic in the form of stretch and bubble wrap, liners, and insulation are then used to secure and refrigerate food shipments and studies have found that microplastics from these materials can travel in the air, entering food packaging environments, long before they even reach consumers. So, not only are these plastic pallets, wraps, and containers thrown away after each shipment, adding to the global waste problem, but they are also putting workers in the food industry at risk.

Plus, only 13.6% of all of the plastic packaging generated in 2018 was recycled.Then the vast majority end up in landfill where it breaks down into microplastics and contaminates the soil all over again. 

Solutions: Rethinking Food Systems Beyond Plastic

Addressing plastic pollution in the food industry requires serious action at every stage.

Introducing innovative, sustainable replacements like bioplastics and compostable materials into the modern food system could boost the recycling rates of food packaging by 22% to 64%, depending on the scenario. 

Farmers must phase out plastic mulches and coated fertilizers by switching to safer materials and ingredients. In distribution, reusable pallets and insulated containers can help reduce microplastics from entering the environment. 

There are also plenty of alternatives to plastic packaging and household food containers, such as compostable packaging, silicone kitchen utensils, glass containers, beeswax wraps, and even zero waste grocery stores. 

EARTHDAY.ORG is calling for a 60% reduction in plastic production by 2040, and you can help: find a cleanup near you on our Great Global Cleanup Map, sign our Global Plastic Treaty Petition against plastic pollution, and always choose reusable and sustainable alternatives when you shop.  Next time you unwrap a plastic-packaged snack or bite a packet of plastic wrapped chicken, remember the long, plastic-filled journey this food took before it got to you and maybe find healthier alternatives!

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Date: September 20th, 2025
Weather: Sunny and warm with a light breeze
Mood: Ecstatic and excited

September 20th marked World Cleanup Day, but for The Golden State, it also marked California Coastal Cleanup Day: one of the nation’s largest annual volunteer events uniting communities each September to clear trash from beaches, rivers, and shorelines. For over four decades, this powerful movement has mobilized people across California, removing countless tons of debris and generating data that has shaped significant environmental policies, such as state-wide plastic bans, limits on single-use plastics, and stronger stormwater regulations.

The town of Berkeley, located in northern Alameda County, California, on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay, has played a notable role in this movement. The Berkeley Shoreline Cleanup was added to the statewide effort in 1988 thanks to longtime coordinator Patty Donald, who helped grow the program from a small class outing to Strawberry Cove, an area of natural beauty near the town, into a major community tradition. Under her leadership, the city became a hub for monthly cleanups, student field trips, and hands-on environmental education at the Shorebird Park Nature Center. 

This past Saturday, September 20th, I was able to experience this movement firsthand at the annual California Coastal Cleanup Day Shorebird Park event, organized by the City of Berkeley. This day of cleaning up trash rekindled my deep appreciation for Berkeley’s heartening community.

Every UC Berkeley student is familiar with the AC Transit 51B bus line, known as the University – College – Rockridge route; it runs between Rockridge BART station in Oakland and Berkeley Amtrak station (Berkeley Marina area), serving many stops along the way. Thankfully this classic mode of transportation brought me directly to the Berkeley Marina, the location of the cleanup. The weather couldn’t have been better, as the sun was shining in a clear sky with a light breeze near the water. I packed my tote bag with necessary supplies to tackle the day: a water bottle (not in a single use bottle btw), hand sanitizer, granola bar, sunglasses, and my San Francisco Giants hoodie (obviously). 

I walked up to the park around 10:00 am to see many different groups of people already beginning to fill up their trash bags. Eager to get started, I checked in at the tent and grabbed some gloves, a trash bag, and a trash picker. I then headed toward the walking paths along the San Francisco Bay and began my cleanup journey.

I was instantly greeted by kind volunteers of all ages, making conversation as we searched for trash. This is what I love most about Berkeley: how welcoming and friendly the community is, no matter if I’m on campus or in town. 

It’s also easy to feel the Bay Area’s strong environmental values in the enthusiasm people bring to cleanups. There is truly no other place with this energy and dedication, and meeting the lovely, like-minded locals at this event made me appreciate my college town even more. Experiences like this illustrate how when individual communities come together, their collective efforts have the power to drive real change and shape a sustainable, just future. 

A moment to highlight was getting to share all about EARTHDAY.ORG and how the Great Global Cleanup initiative works with other volunteers. One of them told me that she travels often and is always looking for ways to give back to the communities she visits. When I showed her the cleanup map, she absolutely loved the idea because it meant she could easily find opportunities to join cleanups wherever she goes in the world!

Many pieces of styrofoam, candy wrappers, plastic, bottle caps, and glass filled up my trash bag as I continued along my way. The park stretches about 2 miles, and I was sure to cover as much land as I could while also enjoying the view of San Francisco and chatting with other volunteers. The cleanup concluded around noon, and at the end, a whole truck’s bed was stuffed to the brim with trash bags, successfully cleaning up the coast. 

As I left the marina, I couldn’t help but notice how the shoreline looked just a little bit better, definitely cleaner than when we had arrived, and how the community spirit felt even brighter. Although small, this cleanup still has long-term impacts, it helps create a safer park for the community and wildlife, contributes to important data collection, and sets a precedent for future environmental stewardship because the community bonds demonstrate how real change starts at the local level. 

I ended World Cleanup Day/California Coastal Cleanup Day feeling eternally grateful for the wonderful community that UC Berkeley has brought me to, which also left me a bit sentimental as I begin my senior year. 

Thank you to everyone who celebrated World Cleanup Day this year, no matter where you were in the world. If you’re looking for more ways to get involved, visit The Great Global Cleanup to partner with us, find a cleanup near you, or register your own cleanup.

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Tomorrow marks World Cleanup Day, a day when millions of people around the world unite to take collective action against the global waste crisis. In preparation for this special day, we want to highlight seven of the most powerful cleanups that EARTHDAY.ORG has been part of, alongside our incredible partners worldwide.

Ranging from Armenia to India, and all over the United States, we helped to inspire millions of people to care for our planet. We are grateful to every single person who showed up for these and every other cleanup – and ask everyone to continue to do the same this World Cleanup Day.

1) Yerevan, Armenia

High above Yerevan, the stunning capital city of ancient Armenia, the view from Mount Ararat is breathtaking; however, this beauty lies in stark contrast to the trash that fills some of the streets of the city. This inspired nineteen year-old Hrachya Sahakyan to create Maqoor (“clean” in Armenian), a youth-led movement that has already organized more than 200 cleanups in just one year. 

Partnering with EARTHDAY.ORG in 2024, Maqoor volunteers, made up of mostly teenagers, mobilized to restore polluted sites across Yeveran. Their largest series of cleanups occurred around Lake Yerevan on April 20, 2024, where they  collectively cleared more than 750 pounds of waste in a single day.  This effort helped to transform a heavily trashed area into a cleaner, healthier space for the community and for the wildlife!

Michael Karapetian, coordinator of The Great Global Cleanup, was able to attend this event and see Maqoor in full action. What struck Michael most wasn’t just the trash collected, but the spirit of the volunteers. He was able to witness how the courage of youth leading the charge in a country still recovering from conflict made these cleanups so powerful and inspiring. 

One particular moment stuck with Michael during his journey to Armenia: an eight year-old boy refusing to leave the cleanup, insisting “I need to be here, cleaning up my country.” The Armenia cleanups in 2024 initiated a movement rooted in hope, pride, and community– cleanups go far beyond cleaning up trash and Armenia we saw that in action. 

2) Mumbai, India

In 2024, Earth Day India teamed up with the Indian Coast Guard for a massive cleanup on one of Mumbai’s most crowded beaches. 

A crowd of over 15, 000 people showed up to Mumbai, determined to tackle the tide of plastic pollution washing in from the ocean. While volunteers spread across the beaches to pick up waste, scuba divers cleared debris below the surface and helicopters circled overhead to capture the scale of the effort. The day of hard work ended with a celebratory atmosphere of games, speeches, and community pride.

This powerful cleanup effort is a part of Earth Day India’s larger mission to educate, empower, and engage communities across the country. From cleaning the River Ganges to planting fruit trees in drought-prone areas, their work builds an environmentally aware and active generation ready to take on challenges that protect their environment, and their own health. 

3) Vienna, Austria

In 2024, Planet Matters made waves by launching a global cleanup app for World Cleanup Day, turning environmental action into something exciting. The app allows people to track their cleanups, connect with other cleanup communities, and earn rewards along the way. 

Their motto is clear and true: When it comes to the environment, doing always beats worrying! The moment you take  action, you start feeling hopeful, especially when you’re with friends!

Based in Austria, Planet Matters’s efforts quickly took off as the organization engaged with more than 200 local students to take part in a city wide clean up and teach them that every individual action does make a difference.

This year, Planet Matters is teaming up with the Schwarzenegger Climate Initiative to organize  major cleanup events all over the world in the lead up to the next Earth Day, 2026. They are  an inspiring model for how digital innovation and youth leadership can come together to meet the environmental movement head on and energize it!

4) Penang Island, Malaysia

The weekend before Earth Day 2024, over 250,000 volunteers gathered on Penang Island in Malaysia for one of the biggest and most ambitious environmental actions of the year. 

EARTHDAY.ORG joined forces with The Malaysia Humanitarian Foundation to combine hands-on environmental work with global collaboration through the Asian Environmental Summit. That meant they got a ton of people to come together to get their hands dirty, clean up trash and plant trees! In just two days, 1.2 million trees were planted by volunteers, while teams also fanned out across beaches and neighborhoods to haul away almost 2,000 pounds of trash, much of it plastic. 

The momentum carried into the Asian Environmental Summit, held at Penang City Hall, where activists, NGOs, youth leaders, and public figures, including EARTHDAY.ORG ambassador Melissa Tan, came together to share solutions and strategies to the most pressing environmental issues occurring in Asia.

What made this cleanup event so meaningful wasn’t only the remarkable number of trees planted or trash removed, but also how it united community action, ecological restoration, and youth leadership-  into a unified effort. Global challenges can be met when communities take action together and this community came together and made a difference!

5) Raleigh, North Carolina

In April of this year, EARTHDAY.ORG teamed up with The Great Raleigh Cleanup in Raleigh, North Carolina to put a fresh spin on Earth Day action. Under this innovative program, community members experiencing homelessness are hired and paid about $20 per hour as well as provided with meals to lead cleanups in their own neighborhoods. 

Ten local members joined a cleanup in downtown Raleigh, and removed over 1,000 pounds of trash and plastic pollution in just four hours. The wages made it possible for these participants to secure a safe place to stay, a hot meal, and a shower after a long day of work. 

Founder Preston Ross III notes that these small shifts in our concept of community can feel monumental, recalling how workers told him the only nights they could count on a clean, comfortable room, were the days they joined a cleanup. 

Raleigh’s story is another powerful example showing what happens when environmental action is blended with compassion. This is the true spirit of the Global Cleanup Movement, and we hope it is contagious.

6) Compton, California

In a continued effort to support underserved communities, EARTHDAY.ORG partnered with community-oriented nonprofit The Compton Initiative, Los Angeles, California, for one of their beautification cleanup events. 

During this event, volunteers poured their energy into projects as not only cleaned up their neighborhoods, but also painted fences, refreshed the Compton Courthouse Complex, and tended to Lincoln Memorial Park. By the time the work wrapped up, five giant dumpsters were overflowing with trash. FIVE!

A large sense of pride spread through the community, and many people expressed their gratitude for the cleanup volunteers and all of their hard work. Todd Bouquet of The Compton Initiative thoughtfully reflected, “Unity was lifted up, community was strengthened, and family was broadened.” 

7) Miami, Florida

On April 19th, 2025, EARTHDAY.ORG collaborated with Miami-based nonprofit Debris Free Oceans for an action-packed day of cleanup fun in the lively community of Little Havana, Miami along the vibrant stretch of Calle Ocho. 

To start the morning off, volunteers practiced mindfulness with a yoga session before they scattered across the area to clean up sites where illegal trash dumping occurs. This event aimed to amplify these issues and called on the local government to take action. With this mindset, volunteers spent the morning cleaning up almost 200 pounds of trash.

The uplifting, inclusive atmosphere of Little Havana made it easy for volunteers to feel like they were a part of a neighborhood gathering, rather than a trash cleanup event.

Inspired? If YOU want to help make a difference on World Cleanup Day 2025, register to take part in an existing clean-up on our Great Global Cleanup Map or even register your own cleanup with the Great Global Cleanup. Thank you to all our clean up volunteers for being a part of the Global Cleanup Movement!  We salute you!

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