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.
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.
Topics
Authors
Aaron Colonnese
Content Creator, Editorial & Creative Team, The Public Interest Network
Aaron writes and designs materials with the Creative Team for The Public Interest Network for U.S. PIRG. Aaron lives in Arlington, Massachusetts, and spends his spare time playing drums and going for long walks.
Find Out More
Advocates call for NC lawmakers to stop plastic pollution
Victory! New state laws will reduce pollution from plastic foam and packaging
Can I recycle that?
