The mission of the Virginia Plastic Pollution Prevention Network (VPPPN) is to promote and facilitate coordination, collaboration, and communication among groups working to reduce plastic pollution throughout the Commonwealth of Virginia. | | |
Welcome to the Virginia Plastic Pollution Prevention Network (VPPPN)
Our Next Meeting is April15th at 2PM
In this edition:
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Monthly Meeting in April - Featuring Claudia Davis, Oceana: polling on single-use plastics + policies to reduce them
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Virginia Marine Debris Summit recap and survey
- VPPPN is rebranding - sign up on the new membership form today!
- International Plastic Pellet Count
- Virginia Earth Day Events
- April Webinars
- Virginia Green Drinks Events
- ICC Cleanup Maps
- Upcoming Clean-Ups
- CBSM Workshop Opportunity
- Reduce Plastic - Tip of the Month - Reduce Plastic for Earth Day
Newsletter content is provided by VPPPN members
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VP3N Meeting - April 15th from 2-3 PM
Oceana's Polling Presentation on single-use plastics + policies to reduce them
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Oceana's Field Representative, Claudia Davis, will present information about a new, nationwide plastics poll, showing that an overwhelming majority of U.S. voters are concerned about plastic pollution and support policies that reduce single-use plastics. "Much of the polling had a focus on single-use foam because this is our current federal priority, but I hope it can be helpful for anyone doing a final push on foam ban defense!."
Google Meet joining info
Video call link: https://meet.google.com/rfr-tygg-fry
Or dial: (US) +1 620-878-0718 PIN: 528 875 567#
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| | Virginia Marine Debris Summit! | | |
CVW would like to extend a big THANK YOU! to all who participated, sponsored, presented and exhibited at the 2025 Virginia Marine Debris Summit!
In case you missed it, here is a recap of the Summit. Presentations and videos will be available on our website soon.
If you attended, we would love your feedback! Please fill out this survey and let us know how you thought it went.
The Virginia Marine Debris Summit was the kick-off to the 2026-2030 update to the Virginia Marine Debris Reduction Plan. All of your input and ideas are greatly appreciated! Stay tuned for more more opportunities to contribute to the new plan!
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What do you think of the new logo - VP3N?
Do you have logo or branding ideas - send them our way!
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On May 3rd, 2025 Environment Virginia is co-hosting the first annual International Plastic Pellet Count to raise awareness of the issue of plastic pellet pollution. Would your organization be interested in participating by organizing a plastic pellet count event or doing one on your own on May 3rd. You can read more about the event and register here.
Plastic pellets, known as nurdles, are tiny beads of plastic made from gas or oil. Nurdles are the building blocks of plastic production; they’re shipped across the world to be melted down and molded into water bottles, plastic bags and countless other items.
Learn more about why plastic pellets are a problem here.
Check our this map of places in Virginia that we think may have pellets due to their location in relation to production facilities, transport hubs and ports.
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Virginia Earth Day Events
| | From the mountains to the coast, there are Earth Day events across the Commonwealth! Please check our some of our partners awesome upcoming events! | | |
Clean Virginia Waterways
Join Clean Virginia Waterways for a Earth Day celebration at the Virginia Beach Surf & Rescue Museum. Help us build and paint Beach Toy Libraries, participate in a beach cleanup and check out some of our local environmental organizations.
Shenandoah Green
Staunton is hosting their annual "zero-waste" Earth Day Staunton on Saturday, 26 April 2025, from 11am-3pm, at the Gypsy Hill Park .Bandstand.
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CHRISTOPHER NEWPORT UNIVERSITY
Teams of student mentors, environmental professionals, and faculty have partnered with high school students and their teachers to research local impacts of climate change. These determined folks look forward to sharing their work via posters, in the Peeble’s Theater at CNU on April 22, from 9:30a until 1:00p.
Registration is free, and pizza is provided for lunch. Please contact Rob if your organization would like a table. Donations to Fear to Hope can be made to the CNU Education Foundation at any time through Keith Roots at Keith.Roots@cnu.edu.
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PPC Webinar | This is Your Brain on Plastic: What You Need to Know About Plastics & Health
April 16th at 5 PM EST
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YORK RIVER GROUP SIERRA CLUB MEETING
“The Impact of Environmental Protection Rollbacks on Vulnerable Communities”
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You are invited to attend the York River Group’s program on Wednesday, April 16, 2025, 7:00-8:00 p.m. on Zoom.
Guest speaker Lynn Godfrey is the Virginia Chapter’s Just Transition Program Manager and Pipeline Organizer for the Stop the Pipelines campaign.
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Every month, all around the world, people who work in the environmental field meet up at informal sessions known as Green Drinks. We have a lively mixture of people from NGOs, academia, government and business. Come along and you'll be made welcome. Just say, "are you green?" and we will look after you and introduce you to whoever is there. It's a great way of catching up with people you know and also for making new contacts. Everyone invites someone else along, so there’s always a different crowd, making Green Drinks an organic, self-organizing network.
To find a Green Drinks near you, visit www.greendrinks.org.
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Green Drinks Virginia Beach - Sunday, April 27, 2025, 2pm
Join us for a special Sunday Funday Green Drinks to celebrate Earth Day! This month we will meet at MOCA for a tour of Duke Riley's exhibit, O’er the Wide and Plastic Sea, which surveys two decades of work by New England-born, Brooklyn-based artist Duke Riley who is known for innovative and intricate installations, performances, videos, sculptures, and drawings that call attention to the ways in which institutional power collides with the natural world.
Virginia Beach Green Drinks will return to it's normal time of second Wednesdays at 5:30 in May.
Green Drinks Chesapeake - Wednesday, April 30, 2025 6pm
Our next Green Drinks meeting will be on Wednesday, April 30, 6 pm, at YNot Italian in Greenbrier. Our guest speaker will be Christina Trapani, the new Program Director for Clean Virginia Waterways. Many of us know Christina through her sustainable products company Eco Maniac Company and her relentless efforts to tackle plastic litter and pollution in our area. Now, she is the new leader of Clean Virginia Waterways statewide efforts to enhance the health of Virginia’s water resources through pollution prevention. Come out and learn about efforts to deal with our plastics problem.
| | International Coastal Cleanup Map | | |
Do you have upcoming cleanups you would like to promote through the Ocean Conservancy’s website? You can add your organization to the OC's cleanup partner map,
to steer interested volunteers your way. Email Sarah Weller to add a cleanup.
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SAVE THE DATE
36th Annual Clean the Bay Day
Saturday, June 7, 9am – Noon
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I will be delivering my Fostering Sustainable Behavior workshop for Oceania on May 26-28 and for North America on June 3-5. These workshops are held over Zoom and consist of three four-hour sessions spread over three consecutive days. The training occurs at a convenient time for attendees from across North America and Oceania. It is very well evaluated without the cost, inconvenience, and emissions associated with in-person training. Participants receive a certificate that they have been trained in community-based social marketing. Details for the North American training can be found here, while information for Oceania is here. I've also drafted an email that can be used to persuade a supervisor to support attendance (the North America email is here, and the Oceania email is here). Group rates for five or more attendees from one agency are also available for both workshops (email dmm@cbsm.com for more information on group rates).
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Adopt Reusable Alternatives: Opt for reusable water bottles, shopping bags, coffee cups, and food containers instead of single-use plastics.
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Refuse Single-Use Plastics: Avoid plastic straws, utensils, and bags whenever possible.
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BYO Containers: Bring your own containers/bags for restaurant leftovers, produce and bulk food items.
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Buy in Bulk: Purchasing items in larger quantities reduces packaging waste.
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Recycle Effectively: Ensure you properly sort and recycle plastic items to maximize their potential for reuse.
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Support Sustainable Businesses: Choose companies that prioritize eco-friendly practices and packaging.
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The VPPPN monthly eNewsletter wants
YOUR INPUT!
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If you would like to have your upcoming event (or publication) mentioned in the monthly VPPPN eNewsletter, write a paragraph with the following information, and email it to VirginiaPPPN@gmail.com.
FORMAT: Submissions to the VPPPN monthly eNewsletter must be sent as a Word or Pages document or as text in an e-mail. Word limit: 150. You can also send us a photo, logo, or flyer as a JPG.
CONTENT: Include the title, time, date and place of the event or program, and a phone number (with area code) or e-mail address of a contact person. State if the program is free or has a fee; has an age requirement or other restrictions; or has a registration deadline or welcomes drop-ins. Also include the name of the group sponsoring the event, and a website (if available) for more information.
Are you reading a book about plastics, environmental justice, ocean sustainability and health or another related topic? What about a podcast series relevant to plastic pollution or marine debris? We want to know so we can share that information with other VPPPN members!
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Please Support the
Virginia Plastic Pollution Prevention Network
| Please consider a donation to support the VPPPN if you have found it to be valuable to you and your organization. We would appreciate your support of $10, $20 or more. Member organizations that donate $100 or more will have their logo and website link featured on the VPPPN website. | | | | |
