Of course we don’t litter (who does that?) but unfortunately a large amount of our trash, even the items we place into the “recyclable” bin, end up in the landfill. Not all the items with that little triangle (♲) on the bottom are ultimately recycled…

Recycling infrastructure is unfortunately still very poor and only a very few items are actually recycled. Everything else is considered “contamination”. Well, contamination goes to the landfill with our garbage, taking decades to decompose… Once in the landfill, wind, wastewater, rain and floods ultimately can take plastics and other materials to the ocean.

The consequence? Millions of animals are killed every year because they eat our trash. Turtles, birds, fish, you name it…
 Recent studies also found plastic microparts inside human bodies, because we eat the animals who eat plastic (bleah).

For now…

• Reduce if you can

• Reuse what you have

• Recycle correctly

• Share the information

…and together we can make an impact!

Chemist, with a PhD in Materials Science, I spent most of my career in the plastic industry. I know all the benefits of plastic and its uses and, I also understand the environmental impact of materials. I moved from Brazil to the US in 2012, and spent 7 years in Philadelphia (Go Eagles!) before moving to Atlanta with my family.

I shifted my career to a more purposeful one when I moved to Atlanta, in 2019. I started to apply my research skills to study the current plastic waste crisis and its potential solutions. I got then to meet amazing entrepreneurs who I advise in sustainability-focused cohorts and accelerators globally. I am a proud mentor at Sustainable Ocean Alliance, Techstars Sustainability, The Incubation Network and Gener8tor. I also love organizing environmental education activities in my kid’s school and being as active as I can helping educate my local community about plastic waste & sustainability, as you can see in some of the programs listed here.