This past weekend, Clean Water Action joined Younique Yoga, Asbury Park Bazaar, and The Anchor's Bend in hosting a Yoga Benefit for Clean Water!
Special thanks to all of the atteendees, as well as yoga instructor Rosanna Canale for dedicating her time for such a great cause!
The Yoga Benefit for Clean Water took place at beautiful and historic Convention Hall, which overlooks the Atlantic Ocean and North Beach in Asbury Park, NJ. After the class, attendees enjoyed a healthy breakfast at The Anchor's Bend and shopping at the Asbury Park Bazaar, a seasonal pop-up marketplace featuring handcrafted and vintage vendors. In addition, two lucky yogis went home with a limited-edition stainless steel "ReThink Disposable" cup!
The class helped benefit Clean Water Action's ReThink Disposable program which prevents waste before it starts by working with local governments, businesses and institutions, and consumers to minimize single use disposable packaging in food service to conserve resources, prevent waste and ocean litter pollution. Disposable food and beverage packaging makes up 67% of litter in commercial streets. If we don’t end the “throw-away” lifestyle now, there will be more plastic than fish in the ocean by 2050! This is a huge problem.
ReThink Disposable has helped over 100 food businesses and institutional dining operations eliminate over 10 million single-use disposable packaging items that saves money from avoided disposal fees and supply purchases. We provide free technical assistance to help businesses implement the program. One of the easiest practices businesses can implement is to make “straws by request” only.
The U.S. consumes 500 million straws a day. That’s enough straws to circle the planet more than two-and-a-half times each day. The U.S. consumes 182 billion straws in a year. This generates 342 million pounds of waste entering our landfills, incinerators, and waterways. Due to their toxicity, plastic straws may not be something your customers want in their drinks. They are made of a petroleum byproduct called polypropylene mixed with colorants and plasticizers and don’t biodegrade naturally in the environment.
Restaurants across New Jersey are joining our “Straws by Request” program, which helps them to save money, go green, and make customers happy! Click here to join.
We couldn't be successful without a movement of ReThink Disposable champions and leaders to bring about change in their communities. Join the ReThink Disposable movement to break free from the addiction to disposables and plastic we consume to be part of the solution. Simple choices that consumers practice in their day-to-day lives add up and have a huge collective impact on conserving resources, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, preventing waste and litter, and reducing plastic pollution that is choking our wildlife and oceans. Consumers can:
- Drive demand and support ReThink Disposable business champions that are implementing packaging reduction practices.
- Next time you go out for food or coffee, consider slowing down and dining-in on real china or request a real mug at a major coffee chain.
- Or better yet, Bring your Own (BYO) refillable for to-go drinks!
- Simply refuse the straw and just say NO to plastic utensils and condiment packages for to-go orders or delivery.
