“plastic creates pollution right from when it’s made, and then continues to create pollution,” moore said. “it never goes away.”

moore used the 120 billion disposable coffee cups americans discard annually as an example, citing the clean water action’s rethink disposable program. she explained that alongside the 2.2 billion pounds of waste created by the coffee cups, and the strain on finite resources such as fresh water and trees, this throwaway habit also results in 4 billion pounds of carbon dioxide emissions every year.

the throwaway culture that has developed over the last half-century costs the environment as well as the economy: people discard first-use plastic packaging worth the equivalent of $80 billion to $120 billion annually, according to a report from the ellen macarthur foundation.

furthermore, environmental damages caused by plastic pollution, along with the greenhouse gases emitted by plastic production, cost at least $40 billion annually, according to the report.

so how do we counteract all this waste? the report offered the circular economy as the solution to plastic waste in all sectors. the circular economy’s mission is to move society away from its current reliance on disposability and unsustainable resources by redesigning products and systems in order to minimize waste and pollution.

“if we turn off the tap of plastic production, use, and waste management, we’re only left with real materials — reusables that can be used an infinite amounts of times,” moore said.

moore explained that addressing the production, distribution, and widespread use of plastic is crucial in order to make a long-term impact on both plastic pollution and climate change.

while recovery measures such as cleanups and recycling are important, they are “band-aid solutions” that don’t address the root of the problem, moore said. “you can’t get all (of the plastic) out if it keeps coming in.”

“only 9% of plastic ever created has been recycled,” moore said. “we are overflowing with plastic. recycling is not enough.”

mike schoniger, a business owner who oversees the loading and unloading of shipping containers in the port of los angeles, witnessed the limits of recycling firsthand, explaining that the “sheer volume” of recyclables is the issue. he said that because the united states lacks recycling centers, and china has refused to continue receiving and processing recyclables from the west, materials are now stacking up in shipping containers with nowhere to go.

“i’ve seen trash trucks picking (the recyclables) back up and taking them to (a) landfill,” schoniger said.

to mitigate the recycling backlog, the u.s. has started exporting recyclables to india, vietnam, malaysia, and indonesia, the new york times reports. schoniger warned that these nations do not have the infrastructure to deal with the influx of materials, and worried that it will result in illegal dumping.

“i don’t think their environment can tolerate it,” he said of the countries chosen to bear the burden of america’s waste.

“we all just think as far as the curb. we as consumers look away from our problems,” schoniger said.

moore said she knows that when it comes to plastic waste, out of sight should not mean out of mind, and that she fears the trash our species has accumulated so far “will become a layer in the earth, and (a) mark in history of when we didn’t know better.”

at upstream, moore works to stop issues like the recycling overload through measures that “stop trash at its source.” upstream works with venues, corporations, communities, and individuals to institute the circular economy on three levels: throwaway free places, throwaway free communities, and throwaway free living.

moore’s awareness of the far-reaching impacts of manmade trash began with her upbringing in staten island, new york, where, “you can’t walk on the beach without shoes because there’s so much trash,” she said.

now, at upstream, she co-leads the united states’ branch of a #breakfreefromplastic working group, recruiting new partners and orchestrating the vast web of organizations connected to solving the plastic crisis.

moore said the organizations she collaborates with “range from people working on the frontlines fighting oil production to people working (on the issue of) microplastics.”

moore explained that this multifaceted approach is crucial because every problem plastics cause is interconnected. she emphasized the importance of “collaborating to amplify each other’s stories.”

“we are all fighting the same fight. stopping a pipeline in louisiana is going to stop plastic waste in the philippines,” she said.

a recent victory that upstream collaborated on was the development of a disposable-free dining ordinance that will make berkeley, california, a leader in establishing throwaway free communities. the ordinance requires all takeout containers to be compostable and all dine-in dishes and cutlery to be reusable, while also adding a quarter surcharge to every disposable coffee cup to incentivize people to bring their own cups.

moore said she hopes to develop a widespread “culture change” that will shift people’s relationships with the items they use.

“i believe humans are incredibly adaptable. if all single-use plastics were banned, humans would adapt in a week and it would become the new normal,” moore said.

moore is raising her five-year-old daughter to embrace a waste-free future. she and her daughter buy groceries in bulk, use cloth napkins, and make their own toothpaste in mason jars.

“being throwaway-free is completely normal to her,” moore said of her daughter.

when asked what her biggest hope is for the world her daughter will be inheriting, moore answered immediately.

“i would love if she could walk on the beach and not see plastic.”

“the volume of trash we’re creating is a problem,” said sam wetzel, the executive director of common good city farm. “the most important thing for people to know is there is no such thing as ‘away;’ when things are thrown away they must go somewhere.”

without oxygen to help discarded food break down, organic materials buried in landfills release methane, a greenhouse gas that can trap 30 times the amount of heat in the atmosphere as carbon dioxide.

the epa reports that landfills accounted for 16% of u.s. methane emissions in 2016, totaling approximately 108 million metric tons of carbon dioxide-equivalent. as landfills run out of space and the atmosphere continues to heat as the result of human activity, it is clear the one-size-fits-all approach to waste disposal is no longer feasible. wetzel sees urban composting programs, such as the one provided by common good, as a crucial component to changing the fate of food scraps.

common good is located in washington d.c.’s ledroit park—a usda-certified food desert. the farm is bordered on one side by expensive townhouses and a public housing project on the other. under wetzel’s leadership, the farm serves as a place for people from all sectors of the community to come together to grow vegetables, buy produce, and compost.

wetzel oversees common good’s two composting programs. the farm has what wetzel calls its three-bin “lasagna composting” system, where plant clippings from maintaining the farm are stacked in layers and turned every several months as they break down. for processing food waste brought in by members of the neighborhood, common good also houses a compost-cooperative, one of several the district’s department of parks and recreation has established over the past few years.

“the best thing about the co-op is that members of the community keep the whole thing running,” wetzel said. her job is to ensure the co-op is equipped for success by providing the space, materials, and training manuals for the program. in return, the fertile soil produced by the composting system helps nourish common good’s crops.

composting creates the ideal environment for naturally occurring microbes to break down organic materials, expediting decomposition while maximizing the nutrients in the resulting soil. turning compost piles from time to time allows oxygen to become part of the decomposition process, which is crucial to the reduction of methane output.

“the aerobic process of composting does not produce methane because methane-producing microbes are not active in the presence of oxygen,” according to western australia’s department of primary industries and regional development.

wetzel sees composting not only as a way to reduce humanity’s output of greenhouse gases, but also as a way to restore the planet’s natural processes in order to feed future generations of plants, and ultimately, humans.

“the earth needs to eat like everything else,” wetzel said. she explains that by composting fruit and vegetable scraps instead of sending them to landfill, individuals give these natural materials the opportunity to break down into nutrients, allowing them to come full circle and “feed the plants as well as feed the soil itself.”

rebecca goodstein, a member of common good’s board of directors, said that small urban farms serve not only as a way to build community, but also provide opportunities for education on the importance of farming and composting. an avid composter, she used to have a worm compost bin under the kitchen sink in her studio apartment.

in order to address the country’s food waste and climate crisis, it is important to make people “aware of how to use the food they have,” goodstein said. she believes that learning to use food properly means not only wasting less, but also properly disposing of any unused pieces, like banana peels and carrot tops.

she hopes that composting will one day become a standard part of municipal waste management, as she has seen successfully employed in places like berkeley, california, where curbside compost pickup is the norm.

“[in berkeley] even people who aren’t super environmentally-friendly compost because that is just the standard practice,” said goodstein.

while it may be a while before municipalities fully embrace composting on the necessary scale, local programs continue to fill the gap between what is needed in waste management and what the government has yet to provide. compost cooperatives, and community gardens that often run such programs, can be found in cities and towns nationwide. the first page of google results for “compost co-op” includes programs in philadelphia, baltimore, oklahoma city, and greenfield, ma. typing “new york city” into the american community gardening association’s “find a garden” search engine yields over 250 results.

currently, about thirty people bring their food waste to common good to be composted at the co-op, producing about six cubic yards of fertile soil annually.

while the environmental impact may seem incremental on such a small-scale farm, each person participating in a small composting program ultimately is still part of the aggregate solution, said wetzel. “those things add up. it all makes an impact.”

the new law will phase out the large-scale driftnets used to catch swordfish, institute a buyout program, and incentivize the use of more sustainable fishing methods, conservation group oceana reports. the california driftnet fishery, which harvests swordfish on a majority of the state’s coast, is the only u.s. fishery still utilizing the harmful nets, according to national geographic.

the new law will effectively reform this fishery, and in doing so reforms the state’s swordfish industry. the new regulations are a crucial development in sustainable fishing, in light of a 2016 report by the turtle island restoration network finding that swordfish accounted for less than half of the animals caught in the fishery’s driftnets over the past decade. this means that a majority of animals caught were bycatch, non-target species including whales, dolphins, sharks, seals, and turtles. most animals caught in driftnets do not survive, and bycatch is usually thrown overboard dead or dying.

the reason that driftnets kill so indiscriminately is that their outdated design does not ensnare only targeted species. often the length of the golden gate bridge, these nets hang in the ocean like an invisible wall, entangling anything that swims too close.

“these driftnets are over a mile long, 100 feet deep, and designed to kill everything in their path,” paul nicklen, co-founder of conservation group sealegacy, stated on their website. the lack of nuance with which driftnets kill makes the california swordfish industry one of the most unsustainable and environmentally damaging, according to nicklen.

a new fishing method called deep-set buoy gear has proven to out-perform driftnets while minimizing bycatch, meaning there is no excuse to continue the use of driftnets, oceana reports.

the negative impact that the swordfish industry has on the marine ecosystem was brought to the attention of the public in april by a video of behind-the-scenes footage of the industry created by nicklen’s team at sealegacy. the group’s subsequent petition to stop the use of driftnets collected over 115,000 signatures, giving the momentum needed to encourage state politicians to prioritize the creation of new legislation regulating the industry.

the newly enacted law is an important step in demanding sustainable practices from the fishing industry and bringing california up to environmental standard. the united nations instituted a ban on driftnet usage in the high seas in 1992, and the remainder of the west coast of america is also protected from fishing with driftnets by laws in oregon and washington.

in a press release, oceana’s deputy vice president susan murray applauded the progress made by the new legislation: “this is literally an enormous net benefit for endangered whales, sea turtles and other marine life, as well as to responsible fishermen, coastal communities and seafood consumers. there is no longer room in our oceans for any fishery that throws away more than it keeps.”

the report, completed by a panel of 91 scientists from 40 different countries, found that the threshold for major environmental consequences caused by climate change could be reached as soon as 2040. as reported by the new york times, the scientists concluded that a temperature increase of 1.5 degrees celsius (2.7 degrees fahrenheit) is enough of a difference to cause major environmental consequences, including the die-off of all coral reefs, increased wildfires, global food shortages, and flooded coastlines. this is significantly lower than the 2 degrees celsius (3.6 degrees fahrenheit) benchmark that scientists had previously considered the threshold for severe effects on climate change and that had been the basis of the paris climate agreement.

the findings state that if humans do not drastically reduce their greenhouse gas emissions, the atmosphere will reach the 1.5 degrees celsius increase by 2040. preventing this from occurring requires global industry and economy to completely transform itself at an unprecedented rate. it is projected that global action, or inaction, over the next 12 years will be the determinant of whether or not we can prevent earth from hitting the 1.5 degree mark in 2040, the guardian reports.

the findings of the new report are harrowing. when one considers that preventing the destruction of the earth from becoming inevitable requires getting global politicians, including those who doggedly reject climate science, to confront the climate crisis immediately, it is hard not to feel overwhelmingly defeated. but now is not the time to surrender, now is the time to take responsibility for saving our only planet into our own hands. every individual has the ability to make habitual changes that can help stop climate change. what we choose to do over the next twelve years will seal the fate of the planet. here are six changes you can make immediately to start being part of the solution in your daily life.

1. choose alternative transportation. america’s transportation sector creates approximately one-third of its greenhouse gas emissions. whether you walk, bike, or take public transportation, reducing the amount that you use your car is critical in reducing global greenhouse gas emissions.

2. eat more plants and less animals. globally, animal agriculture accounts for nearly 20% of greenhouse gas emissions, and approximately 80% of greenhouse gas emissions from food consumption comes from animal products. this is a major issue that cannot be ignored if we want to stop climate change. cutting meat out of your diet even one day a week is a great place to start.

3. compost. food scraps cannot break down properly in a landfill and end up emitting methane, one of the most powerful greenhouse gases. by starting a compost in your yard or looking for local gardens or compost collection sites you can bring your food scraps to instead of throwing them away, you promote natural decomposition processes and reduce emissions.

4. reduce your home’s energy footprint. keeping your air conditioning off as much as possible, turning off all unnecessary lights, and unplugging unused electronics to prevent phantom energy usage will not only save you money, it will reduce the amount of greenhouse gases emitted to power your home.

5. reduce plastic usage. not only is plastic pollution one of the leading environmental threats of our time following climate change, but plastic is also one of the top products made from oil, making it a direct contributor to climate change. julia conley of common dreams reports, “fossil fuel companies including exxon and shell chemical have poured more than $180 billion into the creation of plastics facilities that are expected to create a 40 percent rise in production of the material over the next decade.” by rejecting single-use plastics such as bags, bottles, straws, coffee cups, and cutlery and opting for reusable items instead, you can make a personal stand against these harmful industries.

6. vote. we desperately need people in office who will be proactive, not complacent or counterproductive, when it comes to environmental issues. we must vote people into office that will stand up for our planet. democracy only functions when we participate.

the time has passed for sitting back and hoping that someone else will fix the planet. we all have the ability to make a difference, and we all need to consciously work towards a more earth-friendly lifestyle before its too late. there is no longer an excuse for inaction; it is time to save the world.