Keb’ Mo Says Just Say No... to Plastic; If We Care a Little More, We Can Use a Little Less

Nashville, TN, March 03, 2021 --(PR.com)-- Imagine if the entire country wanted to weigh itself all together, all 330 million Americans on one massive scale. How big would that scale need to be? How much would everyone weigh? Well, more plastic than that is thrown away every year in the United States. The United States generates more than 35 million tons of plastic waste each year. That needs to change. “The world uses too much plastic,” says Grammy award winner Keb’ Mo’. “It didn’t start out this way, and it can’t stay this way, so we should all do our part to make things better.” It’s a simple message shared in Keb’ Mo’s new book and song.

Partnering with his friends Chip Esten (of TV show Nashville fame) and longtime writing partner Colin Linden, Keb’ penned and recorded “Don’t Throw It Away” for his 2019 Grammy award-winning album, Oklahoma. The song was made in support of the efforts by the Plastic Pollution Coalition to encourage everyone to do a little better when it comes to protecting the planet. They want the world to know that each time someone refuses single use plastic, they make the world a better place. There are times single use plastic can’t be avoided, and in those instances, people should try to reuse it. And when plastic can no longer be reused, it is good to recycle. It’s a “good, better, best” philosophy that the whole world should learn to embrace.

Keb’ Mo’ wants us all to try to do our part, and he is making a special effort to get kids on board. Timed to be available for Earth Day 2021, the song “Don’t Throw It Away” is now releasing as a fully illustrated children’s book. The book version of "Don’t Throw It Away" (Flowerpot Press, $16.99, April 2021) brings Keb’s song to life through the illustrations by Charlie Astrella. The book follows the song word for word, so kids can sing along as they enjoy the antics of a cast of wildlife characters that are putting discarded plastic to good use. The illustrations also show just some of the many substitutions that can be made in order to refuse single use items. And in a further effort to allow readers to pitch in, the publisher has arranged for a tree to be planted with every book sold. Anne Hayes, publisher at Flowerpot Press, says, “When Keb’ approached us about spreading this Plastic Pollution Coalition message, we were on board immediately. We have a long-standing plant-a-tree partnership with the nonprofit Trees for the Future, and when we saw the opportunity to connect all these pieces together, it was an easy decision.”

With his signature soft touch, a soulful song, and now a book, Keb’ Mo’ hopes to encourage everyone who hears the song and reads the book to refuse, reuse, or recycle whenever they can. As Keb’ says in his song, “If we care a little more, we can use a little less.” So he asks us all to sing and read along... “’Cause it’s a beautiful world. Baby, don’t you throw it away!”

For more information about Keb’ Mo’, please visit kebmo.com.
For more information about Flowerpot Press books, please visit flowerpotpress.com.
For more information about Plastic Pollution Coalition, please visit plasticpollutioncoalition.org.
For more information about Trees for the Future, please visit trees.org.

Opening stat calculation:
Americans discard more than 35 million tons of plastic a year, according to a report from the United States Environmental Protection Agency in 2018. (Source: United States Environmental Protection Agency)
35 million tons = 70,000,000,000 pounds (calculation)
US population >≈ 330 million (Source: United States Census Bureau)
Average weight for Americans from 2015-2018 as measured by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was 170.8 pounds for women over 20 and 199.8 pounds for men over 20. Based on the 2019 United States Census Bureau’s Population by Age and Gender, the United States population is 51% female, so the average weight for adults over 20 can be extrapolated to be about 185 pounds. (Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)

Note: CDC weight is based on adult population, so it is higher than actual average of all 330 million Americans–making this a conservative weight for this statistic
70,000,000,000 > 330 million x 185 pounds

Conclusion: American throws away more in plastic each year than the combined body weight of all Americans