Saving Ourselves, Saving our Planet: Stopping our Plastics Disaster

In October 2024, as an alternative to Breast Cancer Awareness Month, Breast Cancer Action Quebec (BCAQ) launched an innovative project that ties health, social justice, and environmental concerns together. Entitled “Saving Ourselves, Saving Our Planet: Stopping our Plastics Disaster”, this project aimed to educate and mobilize people against the destructive effects of plastics on our health, communities, and planet.

This initiative highlighted the connections between:

  • The toxicity of plastics, including their effects on health (cancer, reproductive and neurological toxicity).

  • Environmental racism, disproportionately affecting marginalized communities and the Global South.

  • The urgency of action to create a healthier, more sustainable, and equitable future.

Mobilizing for a Global Plastics Treaty

In December 2024, negotiations for the international plastics treaty took place in Busan, South Korea. We were advocating for an ambitious and legally binding treaty that includes:

  • A global reduction in plastic production.

  • The end of plastic waste exports to Global South countries.

  • Concrete commitments to protect public health and address environmental injustices.

Our Recent Actions

  • Collective Letter to Minister Steven Guilbeault

    In October 2024, we sent a letter supported by 31 organizations from Quebec, urging Canada to adopt a strong position during the negotiations. The letter denounced the devastating effects of plastics on health and historically marginalized communities.

  • Online Mobilization and Popular Education Campaign

    Throughout October and November, we conducted a digital popular education campaign to raise awareness about the toxicity of plastics, their links to cancer, environmental racism, and their impact on marginalized communities. This campaign included:

    • Educational posts on social media.

    • Interactive tools to deepen understanding of plastics-related environmental issues.

    • A call to action to urge policymakers to act.

  • Participation in a Roundtable with Environment and Climate Change Canada

    On November 13, 2024, we participated in a roundtable bringing together various stakeholders from the plastics lifecycle. We presented our key demands and stressed the importance of an ambitious treaty to protect the most vulnerable communities.

  • Advocating for Concrete Actions

During the November 13 roundtable, we reiterated our request for an official meeting with the Minister to discuss the necessary measures ahead of the international negotiations.

Stay Engaged

Despite recent political changes in Canada and the United States, our commitment remains steadfast. While a fully binding treaty has not yet been adopted, discussions are progressing, and we continue to push for meaningful advancements in the coming months.

We will keep you updated on future developments and concrete actions. Together, we can protect the health of women, marginalized communities, and our planet.

Join us today to end the plastics era!

Illustrations by Niti Marcelle Mueth.
Project made possible thanks to the support of Dragonfly Ventures.

Plastics are toxic and forever
Plastics are made from oil or natural gas to which toxic plasticizers are added to create the desired characteristics for whichever plastics product is being produced. Every plastic item ever produced still exists and will exist for hundreds, if not thousands more years. They never fully decompose. They just break down into smaller microplastics.

Plastics increase the risk of breast cancer
Some of the toxic plasticizers leach out of plastics, including microplastics, creating a wide range of health harms to humans, animals, and our environment generally. A wide range of plasticizers, such as bisphenols, phthalates, flame retardants, and PFAS, have estrogenic endocrine-disrupting effects which increase breast cancer risk as well as other toxic health effects.

Plastics are neurotoxic and reprotoxic
Many of the chemicals used in plastic production are neurotoxic, meaning they damage the nervous system. Phthalates, bisphenols, and other endocrine-disrupting chemicals can interfere with brain development, cognitive function, and even contribute to neurodevelopmental disorders. At the same time, these chemicals also affect reproductive health, altering hormone function, reducing fertility, and increasing risks of reproductive disorders.

Plastics increase the risk of endometriosis and fibroids
Plastic-related chemicals, particularly endocrine disruptors like bisphenols and phthalates, are linked to the development of endometriosis and uterine fibroids. These toxic chemicals mimic or interfere with hormones, leading to imbalances that can trigger or exacerbate these painful and chronic conditions in women.

Plastics are environmental racism
From their extraction as fossil fuels to their production, use, and disposal, plastics disproportionately harm racialized and Indigenous communities. Toxic plasticizers pollute the air, water, and land of marginalized communities, both locally and globally. Plastics are dumped in the Global South, poisoning land and water sources and perpetuating environmental injustice and racism at every stage of their life cycle.

Let's take action together! It’s time to break the cycle of plastic pollution and stand up against the toxic effects of plastics on our health and the environment. Let’s raise awareness, demand stricter regulations, fight against environmental racism, and support safer, more sustainable solutions. Our actions today will protect future generations!