FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 19, 2018
Contact: Peter Rose, Quebec Government Office, (646) 799-1497
Kicking the Plastic Bag Addiction
Quebec Government Office in New York, New York University
and Earth Day Network Host Roundtable to Address Plastic Pollution
New York, April 18, 2018 – The Quebec Government Office in New York, in partnership with New York University and Earth Day Network, will convene a roundtable discussion on April 20 to exchange best practices in support of this year’s Earth Day theme:
End Plastic Pollution. Participants will include representatives from several Permanent Missions to the United Nations, as well as from the United Nations Environment Programme and New York State Legislature.
As of January 1, 2018, Montreal became the first major city in Canada to ban single-use plastic bags. The Canadian federal government is also using its presidency at this year’s G7 meeting in June in Charlevoix, Québec to put the global plastic problem front and center and push for an ambitious zero-plastics-waste charter.
Quebec’s Delegate General in New York Jean-Claude Lauzon will be hosting the roundtable: “We are very proud that Montreal became the first major city in Canada to ban single-use plastic bags and I am delighted that we will gather on April 20 to discuss further action. For the sake of our children and grandchildren, let’s work together to make our future free of plastic pollution.”
“Montreal has already taken a significant step in banning single-use plastic bags and it’s time for New York City and cities across the United States to do the same,” said Carolyn Kissane, Academic Director and Clinical Associate Professor at NYU School of Professional Studies Center for Global Affairs. “Reducing plastic bag use is just one of many solutions to creating a more sustainable environment and society and it’s something we can all start doing today.”
Valeria Moreno, Vice President of Global Earth Day/Earth Day Network added: “We thank the Quebec Government Office in New York and New York University for convening this important forum that will provide a strong set of best practices for disposable plastics like plastic bags.”
The average plastic bag is used for 20 minutes and takes more than 400 years to break down. To give these numbers a local context, in 2015, the world produced 322 million tonnes of plastic, which equals 900 Empire State Buildings!
The Quebec Government Office in New York
Inaugurated in 1940, Quebec Government Office in New York is Quebec’s primary office in the U.S. Serving the Mid-Atlantic, it promotes the interests of Quebec in areas such as trade, investment, education and culture.
@QuebecNewYork
Earth Day Network
The first Earth Day on April 22, 1970, activated 20 million Americans from all walks of life and is widely credited with launching the modern environmental movement. Growing out of the first Earth Day, Earth Day Network (EDN), the world’s largest recruiter to the environmental movement, works with tens of thousands of partners in 192 countries to build environmental democracy and to broaden, diversify and mobilize the environmental movement.
