DORAL, Fla. – The biggest worldwide campaign that encourages people to reduce their use of single-use plastics is in full swing. Plastic Free July is now in its 13th year and in South Florida, youth are leading the charge in this fight.
On a hot summer day, Local 10 News crews followed a small but mighty squad of high school students as they mobilized on the streets of Doral to convince local businesses to substitute their plastic products with greener options that are kinder and gentler to our planet.
While it may seem like an insurmountable goal, the student members of Plastic Free Cities are armed with determination, sustainable options, and support. The program is funded by NOAA and implemented by Debris Free Oceans, Ocean Conservancy, and Big Blue and You.
“So we train high school students to actually go out to businesses and talk to them about ways to reduce plastics and save money,” Maddie Kaufman, the program director of Debris Free Oceans, said.
The goal is to enlist young soldiers to join a growing eco-army waging a war on plastic pollution.
“It is our job as this new generation,” explained 10th grader Alexia Lorie. “These are going to be our oceans, and this is going to be our planet, so we need to keep us safe and help it out.”
Alejandro Ganza, a Jose Marti MAST 6-12 Academy student, says the impacts of pollution are what motivate him.
“Seeing all these animals just being affected by pollution…I (came) to the realization that I’m also being affected,” he said.
Right now, we produce about 400 million metric tons of plastic waste every year.
Every day, nearly 2,000 truckloads of it are dumped into our ocean, which is now estimated to contain more than 170 trillion plastic particles. It’s killing our marine life and ultimately us.
“Every plastic I ingest everything I ingest from food to close to everything that I wear…it just comes back to the idea of my health and the future of our community of my family,” said Lorie.
This is more than just extra credit, these students are fighting for their future by attacking the crisis at the source.
“Where are people getting this plastic from? It’s mostly from businesses,” Doral Academy 11th grader Vanessa Rodriguez said.
And one by one, the businesses are stepping up.
“The businesses love hearing from the students,” Kaufman said. “It’s so empowering to hear from your own local youth in their community about issues they care about.”
Over at Cuento Sandwiches in Doral, they serve up more than just gourmet Cuban food – sustainability is always on the menu.
“It’s something that we care about being environmentally conscious,” David Shipman, the restaurant’s co-owner and chef, said. “We’ve never used plastic bags here.”
The students have been here before and are now helping Cuento to up its sustainability game by leaving new greener service items for them to test, like replacing bioplastic utensils that only biodegrade under certain industrial composting conditions, with 100% biodegradable bamboo utensils.
“What we’re doing to our planet is pretty bad,” said Shipman. “It’s been going on for decades and someone’s got to start making a little bit of change, small progressive changes is how we get there.”
At Cuento, the customers are eating it up.
“The consumer obviously wants to take care of the world that we live in,” Cuento customer Joseph Soto said. “So they see if the business is doing it, we as the consumers wanna play a role also.”
Because Florida bans local governments from passing certain laws to regulate plastic, it’s up to all of us to voluntarily reduce our plastic use. The aim is to get businesses to eliminate as much plastic as they can so that businesses can get certified as part of Miami-Dade’s Plastic Free 305 Program.
“You get recognized by the county, we get you promoted on social media,” Kaufman said.
And that’s important, because 88% of consumers want companies to offer them plastic-free options. According to the non-profit Oceana, over 90% of Floridians say they care about Plastic Pollution.
So each business owner that says yes to the students, is a step in the right direction.
“Do you think you’re making a change by doing this?” asked Local 10 anchor and environmental advocate Louis Aguirre.
“Oh, definitely. I believe that even small changes, we can make a big impact,” responded 11th grader Vanessa Rodriguez.
“They’re gonna change the world,” reflected Kaufman. “Everyone asks me like how I’m so optimistic working in plastic pollution and ocean conservation and it genuinely is like the youth and the promise that they have”
Since the Plastic Free Cities program launched three years ago in Coconut Grove, 92 businesses have been canvassed by students. Through those efforts, nearly 919,908 plastic items have been eliminated annually.
As of now, the program is available in the cities of Miami, Doral, and Hialeah.
If you want your city to take part or want to know how your business can get certified as part of Plastic Free 305, visit the links below.
Resources for Plastic Free July
· Debris Free Oceans sustainable business guide