Everyone is unique in the ways that they make an impact. We each have our own interests, skills and personality traits. From Networkers to Builders to Communicators to Resisters to Nurturers and Investigators, we need all kinds of Changemakers. Each and every type plays an important part in creating the change we want to see…
Grassroots Power, Real Change January 2026 Since 2017, The Story of Stuff Project’s Grassroots Grants Program has invested in one simple but powerful idea: lasting environmental change is built from the ground up. Across the United States, small, community-based organizations are leading the fight against plastic pollution, water privatization, and extractive systems that harm people…
A New report, intended to commit to new measures to reduce plastic and disposable packaging, draws on its own flawed practices to forecast a ‘worst-case scenario’ for reusable packaging. In October 2025, McDonald’s released a report, ‘The Complex Reality of Reusable Packaging in Europe’, stating its position on reusable packaging based on an analysis of…
Do you think life seems more meaningful when we step away from throwaway, consumption-crazed culture? A recent New York Times piece, Throwaway Plastic Has Corrupted Us, got me thinking. Cheap, versatile plastics made throwaway culture explode, fueling overconsumption and turbocharging corporate profits… The social costs of our addiction to disposable plastics are… subtle but significant. Cooking…
Groundbreaking New Report Integrating Reuse Into California’s Beverage Container Deposit System: A Feasibility Study The Story of Stuff Project commissioned Eunomia Consulting to investigate how the state of California might create a system for converting a quarter of the state’s 28 billion beverages sold annually, to reusable containers alongside the benefits of doing so. The…
Implement California’s Plastic Pollution Prevention and Packaging Producer Responsibility Act Without Delay Governor Gavin Newsom signed Senate Bill 54 in 2022 – the nation’s most far-reaching plastic reduction law – pledging to “hold polluters responsible” and “cut plastics at the source.” But now his office is being targeted by industry lobbyists to delay the law’s…
Over the course of two months, Story of Stuff worked with its global community of Changemakers to crowdsource Coca-Cola commercials, ads and imagery displaying the company’s products. Coca-Cola is one of the world’s biggest advertisers spending $4 billion every year to advertise its products and is known as one of the world’s most recognized brands.…
Yes to reusables, no to overconsumption. Have you heard all the hype around Stanley cups? Stanley cups are the current “it” reusable water bottle of the moment, and in the last few months, we’ve seen them all over our feeds. We’re all for reusables and making sustainability more popular. But excessive consumption and microtrends? Not so much. From kitchen…
Ellen MacArthur Progress Report: Coca-Cola’s Use of Virgin Plastics is Up and its Share of Reusables is Down Today The Ellen MacArthur Foundation released its 2023 Annual Progress Report revealing that despite its pledge to reduce its use of virgin plastic and increase its share of reusables, the company is failing on both counts. Coca-Cola…
The Story of Stuff Project has released a new report Bring Back Refill: Calling on Coca-Cola, the Beverage Industry and Policymakers to Bring Reusable Beverage Bottles Back to the US. The report details Coca-Cola’s role in the rise and fall of the refillable glass bottle, exposing how the company knew that single-use plastic bottles were…
