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Kids holding sign that says We Want a Plastic Free World

Stop Trash Before it Starts: ReThink Disposable’s Growing Impact

July 7, 2026 | By Dianna Coleman, Mercedes Forsyth, LaTrice Harrison, Morgan Schafer, Amber Schmidt, Julie Wedge, and Marta Young
Let this sink in! The world produces hundreds of millions of tons of plastic every year, with up to half created for single-use purposes. These are items designed to be used for only minutes before becoming waste. That’s the equivalent of hundreds of Empire State Buildings’ worth of plastic entering our environment each year.
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After the #trashtag

March 15, 2019 | By Johnathan Berard
Internet challenges come and go, and generally I don’t pay much attention to them. This week, however, I began to see pictures of people posing with bags full of trash they had collected pop up all over social media. It seems the #trashtag challenge has taken off across the globe, bringing a ton of
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Plastics and toxics in baby products

January 8, 2019 | By Johnathan Berard
My spouse and I are expecting our first child in the spring. Needless to say, our friends and families are very excited, and we are receiving a lot of advice and insight. One of the most frequent nuggets we have been getting goes something like this: “It really starts to get fun and exciting when you get to put together your baby registry!”
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Take the Pledge! - 10 Things You Can Do to Reduce Single-Use Waste

July 17, 2018 | By Jill DiMeo
Single-use products are the main source of trash in our waters. When this garbage is disposed of improperly, it ends up in our stormwater and sewer systems, and ultimately our oceans, which has a devastating impact on marine life. In addition, the manufacturing of plastic products produces enormous amounts of greenhouse gases and other air pollutants.
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Image of plastic water bottles floating in blue water. Source: Canva

Trawling Narragansett Bay

July 19, 2017 | By Johnathan Berard
This week, Clean Water Action is trawling Narragansett Bay for microplastic pollution. With this trawl, we hope to show that plastic pollution isn't just an issue in the middle of the ocean, it's a problem right here in our own waters.
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One of our samples from the trash trawl
Katrina on the Statehouse Steps in Rhode Island. Photo by Dave Gerraughty

Following the Leader

June 29, 2017 | By Katrina Santos
I am a canvassing intern for the summer here at Clean Water Action in Rhode Island. In addition to knocking on doors, I got the opportunity to shadow State Director Johnathan Berard for one day to learn how the organization operates on the policy and lobbying side. It was incredibly informative and
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