AWARD-WINNING ACTOR, ENVIRONMENTALIST MATTHEW MODINE JOINS PURE EARTH
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
New York, NY
April 19, 2022
Pure Earth, the leading global nonprofit focused on solving the pollution crisis in low- and middle-income countries, is excited to announce that actor and environmental activist Matthew Modine has enthusiastically joined the Pure Earth team.
“As a lifelong environmental activist, I’m inspired by Pure Earth’s unrelenting focus on action and solutions in the worst polluted areas of the world,” says Modine. “And as a husband and father, I appreciate that they have boots on the ground in dozens of countries where children and pregnant women are at highest risk from toxic exposures. I look forward to working with their excellent team to create positive change and stop toxic pollutants from harming people and the many forms of life we share the earth with.”
Matthew will be joining a key group that works to accelerate action to save lives threatened by the global pollution crisis. Members include innovative thinkers, artists, and world leaders in health, government, business, and academia.
“We are honored to welcome Matthew Modine into the Pure Earth family. His passion for the future of the planet and our collective responsibility to future generations inspires us,” says Rich Fuller, Pure Earth President. “Matthew will provide powerful energy to support our mission to find solutions to toxic pollution that kills or poisons millions of people worldwide.”
Modine has worked in the environmental sector for more than three decades. He studied oceanography in San Diego and has been passionate advocate for the health and protection of the world’s oceans and sea life. Bicycling has been his primary form of transportation since moving to New York in 1980.
Most of his environmental accomplishments are based on common sense solutions. In the mid-90s, Matthew single-handedly convinced the William Morris Talent Agency to evolve away from single page script printing to double-sided, effectively cutting paper consumption in half. He shared this idea of paper reduction with other actors and agencies and double-sided scripts are now the industry standard, saving billions of sheets of paper over the years.
While working on a film in Ouerzazate, Morocco, Matthew helped to institute a plastic bottle deposit and recycling program. The effort not only cleared the desert of discarded bottles, but provided young kids that collected the bottles with pocket money.
Matthew is the founder of Bicycle for a Day (BFAD), which has a mission to encourage bicycling as a way toward better health and environmental sustainability. BFAD’s first event attracted some 14,000 participants.
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About Pure Earth
Pure Earth is a leading nonprofit organization dedicated to saving and improving lives and protecting the planet by reducing disease-causing pollution and cleaning up toxic hot spots in low- and middle-income countries. Since its inception in 1999, Pure Earth and its field teams have completed more than 120 projects in 27 countries using best-in-class science, analytics, and engineering practices to identify toxic hot spots and teach communities how to improve soil, water, and air quality with pragmatic, cost-effective solutions. Pollution is the largest environmental cause of death and disease in the world, stealing 9 million lives each year, and disabling hundreds of millions of children. Pure Earth prioritizes actions that protect the developing brains and bodies of children and pregnant women living in toxic hot spots with a specific emphasis on lead and mercury exposure. Partnering with governments, communities, and industry leaders, Pure Earth aims to elevate pollution as a global priority, create sustainable change, and support a healthier future.
Learn more at www.pureearth.org