Earth Day was celebrated on Friday, April 20, at Penn State University—and the Plastic Pollution Coalition was there! While the weekend featured the annual “Blue and White” football game at Beaver Stadium, where tens of thousands of plastic bottles and food containers were used and tossed, the good news is that Penn State will recycle all the bottles it collects from the stadium and throughout...

The Plastic Pollution World Expedition was launched on April 23rd, lead by PPC’s Road Ambassadors, David and Theresa Wernery, of Dubai-based Plastic Not So Fantastic. The expedition will highlight the  destructive effects of single use plastics around the globe in order to raise awareness, understanding, and a reaction against the growing global plastic pollution problem. In each country, the...

This post comes to us from educator Maggie Chumbley of Colegio Bolìvar, in Cali, Colombia; As part of the plastic free campuses initiative here at Colegio Bolìvar, a few student leaders are taking action. Maria Jose Arias, joined by Laura Guiterrez, designed and implemented a three week visual media campaign to create awareness about plastic pollution among the high school and middle school students....

Santa Barbara, CA – On April 2nd, the UCSB Bookstore, Housing and Residential Services, and a coalition of students put aside plastic bags and distributed 3,500 re-usable bags to students in an effort to promote sustainable alternatives. Santa Barbara City Council members, Grant House and Cathy Murillo, and community activist, Kathi King, joined the students and voiced their support for the program. The...

[Right: Student Maria Jose Arias pours iced tea into a reusable bottle at Colegio Bolìvar's plastic free soccer match] Maria Camila Posse, an 11th grade student at Colegio Bolìvar, in Cali, Colombia, shares an update on her school’s progress towards making her campus plastic-free: “Here at Colegio Bolívar, an American school in Cali, Colombia, we are trying to make a difference. For...

Students at White Pine Academy in Leslie, Michigan are spreading the word on plastic pollution through sales of a book that they wrote and illustrated themselves. The fourth grade classroom of teacher Elana Waugh has been learning about all aspects of plastics and plastic pollution, taking those lessons and turning them into a story of their own to teach others. This February, Ms. Waugh had the book...

Earlier this month, the University of Vermont announced a decision to let its exclusive beverage contract expire, and end the sale of bottled water on campus. It has caused quite a stir. UVM is not the first US University to move away from disposable water bottles, but it may be the biggest. Higher ed institutions that have banned the bottle in the US include Macalester College, Seattle University,...

The summary below, and attached research paper, were contributed by Ryan McInerney, a senior at UC Santa Barbara, majoring in Environmental Studies and Political Science. Pictured with Charlie Eckberg, UCSB Alumni and environmental activist. UC Santa Barbara is one of the first members of PPC’s Plastic Free Campuses program. How do we as a society deal with a major environmental disaster, which...

Charlie Eckberg, UCSB Alumni, with speakers and student leaders It seems appropriate that UC Santa Barbara, home of one of the oldest environmental studies programs in the nation, would also be home to an incredibly active group of students working to release their community from dependence on disposable plastics. UCSB students will serve as a model for campuses around the world, as members of the...

Please help us welcome our new team member, Ben Bezark, the Program Manager for Plastic Free Campuses. In this capacity Ben will lead the development of  global community of school and university campuses around the globe, and will be responsible for its growth and spread. Ben Bezark is a mission-driven person, with a passion for making the world a better place. At the University of Vermont, Ben studied...