Trash Talk’: Students discuss solutions to plastic pollution

Young leaders celebrated this Earth Day by comparing notes on how to move our country toward a zero-waste future.

Aaron Colonnese

Former Content Creator, Editorial & Creative Team, The Public Interest Network

On Apr. 19, college students from across the country participated in a webinar called “Trash Talk: Students Breaking Free from Plastic.” Organized to highlight the work of student leaders from the Student PIRGs and Surfrider chapters, the event featured their recent work in Florida and California to win local ordinances banning harmful single-use plastics and polystyrene foam. 

“Nothing we use for five minutes should pollute the planet for 500 years,” said Dan Xie, political director, Student PIRGs. “That’s why we’re calling on our community and state leaders to ban unnecessary single-use plastics, and working to create sustainable zero waste models that can be scaled economy-wide.”

Over the past few years, these student leaders have successfully convinced the University of California system, Eckerd College (Florida), and Durham Technical Community College (North Carolina) to sign the Break Free From Plastic pledge to phase out single-use plastics on campus.

Watch the full webinar here.

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Photo: Dan Xie, Political Director, Student PIRGs was joined by student leaders from the Student PIRGs and Surfrider chapters to discuss how to organize students to make their voices heard to reduce plastic pollution. Credit: Staff

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Aaron Colonnese

Former Content Creator, Editorial & Creative Team, The Public Interest Network

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