Clean Water Action

🏃 What if race day didn’t have to mean thousands of disposable cups in the trash?

This summer, Clean Water Action’s ReThink Disposable team went on the road, bringing reusable cups and a portable water refill station to races and events across Connecticut.

Our mission? Stop trash before it starts on race day, reimagine how these events operate, and get athletes and spectators to buy in.

Thanks to our collective efforts, we kept thousands of cups out of the trash this summer. 💧♻️

Read more: https://cleanwater.org/2026/10/05/winning-race-against-waste-ct

💧 Clean water starts with protecting the streams and wetlands that feed our rivers, filter pollution, and support our drinking water.

EPA is considering weaker Clean Water Act protections. Tell them our water is worth protecting. Comment by Oct. 9: www.cleanwater.org/epa-action-rollbacks

💧 Clean Water Act protections help keep pollution & harmful development out of our streams and wetlands. If more waters lose these protections, they could be left vulnerable.

📢 Tell the EPA to protect our water. Comment by Oct. 9: www.cleanwater.org/epa-action-rollbacks

What happens when we rethink single-use plastic at the source? ♻️

For two years, Clean Water Action’s ReThink Disposable program worked with businesses, schools, and organizations across Minnesota to find practical ways to replace single-use items with reusable alternatives.

Together, participating organizations:
💰 Saved $13,747 in annual costs
🥤 Diverted 220,000 single-use plastic items from the waste stream
♻️ Kept 7,748 pounds of plastic out of landfills

These numbers tell part of the story. The bigger lesson? Reducing plastic at the source can work, and it can make financial sense, too.

Now, we’re taking what we learned in Minnesota and applying it to policy solutions that can bring source reduction to communities and industries on a much larger scale.

Read Morgan Schafer’s reflection on two years of rethinking single-use plastic in Minnesota: https://cleanwater.org/2026/09/29/two-years-rethinking-single-use-plastic-minnesota

🗳️ Michigan ballots are out, and it’s time to get corporate cash OUT of our politics!

Vote YES on 2 this November to help keep utility and big government contractor money out of our politicians’ pockets.

Clean Water Action is working with Michiganders for Money Out of Politics to get Proposal 2 across the finish line. Learn more about the campaign, why this ballot measure matters, and how you can help:

👉 Read the blog: https://cleanwater.org/2026/09/28/money-out-politics-ballot-vote-yes-2-and-help-win-michigan

Clean Water Action - Michigan

🚨 Just 10 days left to speak up for clean water.

EPA and the Army are considering changes to the definition of federally protected waters that could put millions of acres of wetlands and many streams at greater risk of pollution and destruction.

One national analysis found that at least 94% of wetlands in the continental U.S. could be at risk under this approach, while streams that don’t flow year-round make up about 79% of streams across the continental U.S.

That matters because wetlands and streams help filter pollution, absorb runoff and flooding, and protect rivers, reservoirs and drinking water downstream.

The Clean Water Act is one of our most important tools for keeping pollution out of our water. After the Supreme Court’s 2023 Sackett v. EPA decision narrowed federal protections, EPA and the Army are now considering additional changes.

The public comment deadline is October 9.

Clean Water Action is mobilizing people across the country to speak up. Add your voice and tell EPA to protect our streams, wetlands and drinking water.

👉 Take action today:
https://act.cleanwater.org/page/200503/action/1?ea.tracking.id=social

EPA is back at it again — Take action before October 9 Without strong public opposition, polluters will succeed in weakening the Clean Water Act and threatening safe water for millions — and EPA is only accepting comments until October 9. Get your message in TODAY.

🚨 Our drinking water should come first.

Oil and gas production creates massive amounts of toxic wastewater. Now, EPA is considering weakening Clean Water Act protections that limit where this wastewater can be discharged.

“Produced water” can contain PFAS, heavy metals, radioactive materials, and more than 1,100 identified chemicals. Studies have found contaminants downstream, including near drinking water supplies.

💧 EPA should be strengthening, not weakening, protections. Our new paper, “Putting Drinking Water First,” explains why we need:

🛑 Stronger wastewater protections
🔎 Transparency about what’s in produced water
🤝 A seat at the table for affected communities

Read the paper and learn why we must say NO to weaker protections. 👉 cleanwater.org/PDWF-oil-and-gas

💧 As PFAS Awareness Week comes to a close, we’re sharing reflections from Clean Water Action Minnesota’s Morgan Schafer.

After years of working on PFAS, Morgan has learned that these “forever chemicals” aren’t just an environmental problem—they’re a policy, public health, infrastructure, and pollution-cost problem.

Cleaning up contamination matters. But prevention matters, too. Communities shouldn’t be left paying for pollution they didn’t create, and we shouldn’t wait decades to act when we already know how difficult PFAS are to remove.

📝 Read Morgan’s reflections on what we’ve learned from working on PFAS, and why preventing pollution at the source has to be part of the solution.

https://cleanwater.org/2026/09/25/pfas-awareness-week-2026-pfas-wake-call

🚰 Stop PFAS at the source. Know where it’s showing up. Protect our communities. That’s the work Clean Water Action in Minnesota is helping lead during . 💙

Minnesota’s is tackling PFAS pollution at the source by phasing out unnecessary uses of these “forever chemicals” in consumer products. Starting in 2026, manufacturers must also report remaining PFAS use to the state, with nonessential PFAS uses set to be banned by 2032.

But prevention is only part of the work.

We also need reliable data to understand where PFAS is showing up. Clean Water Action uses monitoring results to help residents understand contamination through free Healthy Homes presentations, town halls, & community events, while advocating for the funding and science needed to keep this vital work going.

We’re proud to uplift our MN team and the communities working for a healthier, PFAS-free future. 🌱 Learn more: cleanwater.org/actions/protect-our-health-protect-amaras-law

Philly, get ready! Clean Water's 2026 Annual Event, Watershed to Water Tap, is TOMORROW, Thursday, September 24th, 6-9 pm, at XI West Weddings & Events Join us to:

🌎 Network with local sustainability experts
🍽️ Dine on Dim Sum House University City
🎁 Bid on unique auction items
🏆Honor the recipients of Clean Water Action’s annual awards
🥂 Enjoy complimentary b**r, w**e, and non-alcoholic drinks
🎵 Dance, Dance, Dance!

All proceeds will support Clean Water’s continued local community programs, campaigns, and election work to further protect the environment. ✊🏿✊🏽✊🏻

Clean Water Action - Pennsylvania

Purchase tickets, sponsor, and/or donate! https://cleanwater.org/PhillyAuction

Our online auction is now live - start bidding here: https://event.auctria.com/f3a25c62-321b-4c24-a78e-765d7a89bbbb/