Plastic is everywhere. And plastic lasts forever. The World Economic Forum estimates that currently 200 million tons of plastic are polluting our oceans. The constant flow of plastics is negatively affecting our coastlines, marine life, fishing communities, and tourism.
Islands are on the frontlines of the plastic crisis. Over the years, I’ve had the privilege of living and working with youth and community leaders on islands around the world – from Martha’s Vineyard to Hawaii to Puerto Rico and the Caribbean, to the Asian islands of the Philippines and Sri Lanka. I’ve seen firsthand the challenges and innovative solutions they are creating to stem the tide of this ecological disaster. Learn more here: The Institute’s Case Studies.
WATCH Gary Bencheghib’s Call to Action Video
– and then commit to doing whatever you can to STOP PLASTICS.
Earth Day Climate Education Portal
For Earth Day 2024, The Institute has created a one-stop online source where educators can find digital and printable curriculum to teach climate change solutions, including inspiring stories, lesson plans, videos, and social media from the book, Stone Soup for a Sustainable World: Life-Changing Stories of Young Heroes and the Stone Soup Climate Education Curriculum. This portal features seven champions who are committed to stopping plastics from destroying the planet– by investing in education, engaging their communities, becoming social entrepreneurs, creating start-ups and green companies.
Young People Leading the Way
Last year we finally celebrated the historic U.N. High Seas Treaty — signed by 200 countries. Thanks to 20 years of work by dedicated people around the world, including Danielle Fernandez, founder of Sustainable Oceans Alliance and Cronkite Award recipient (2014) Dr. Sylvia Earle.
Jasper Ralph founded PlasticFREE MV and rallied his Martha’s Vineyard island community to stop using plastic straws and single-use plastics. When he spoke at the Institute’s 19th Sustainability Summit in 2023, youth delegates from the E.U. and the U.S. were inspired to produce videos to educate their classmates, teachers, parents, business and government leaders about what actions can be taken to reduce plastics in their schools, their communities, and our world. LISTEN to their concerns, demands and great ideas!
Lilly Platt, Lilly’s Plastic Pickup, The Netherlands
Educators at the Institute’s Teacher Training Program and year-long Sustainability Initiative were thrilled to have 13-year-old Lilly Platt speak to their students about plastic mitigation and share why she created Lilly’s Plastic Pickup. She challenged them to think about all the ways that they use plastic – from fast food to grocery shopping, to their clothes. She lit a fire under them about the urgent challenge to reduce plastics in their lives–and pick up plastics everywhere!
Azza Faiad examined Egypt’s waste management practices and found a way to turn plastic waste into biofuel that can power vehicles—and save money. WATCH her video to learn more!
This 54th Earth Day Is A Good Time To Commit To Doing Whatever We Can To Stop Plastics—NOW!
- JOIN A COMMUNITY PLASTIC CLEAN UP EVENT on APRIL 20
- MAKE REDUCE, REUSE, RECYLE a way of life;
- EDUCATE ourselves – and our children – with facts about and solutions to this ecological crisis;
- COMMIT to changing our shopping and shipping habits;
- SIGN PETITION – Global Plastics Treaty
- DONATE to the champions who are fighting plastics, and their powerful organizations;
- DIVEST from fossil fuels and invest in renewables.
Social Entrepreneurs to Invest In
Gary Bencheghib’s Sungai Watch team of 100+ passionate river warriors are on a mission to protect and restore our world’s rivers by designing and developing simple technologies to stop the flow of plastic pollution from rivers to going into the ocean.
READ François van den Abeele’s story about how Sea2See is transforming marine waste into fashion. The Sea2See Foundation collaborates with local fishing communities in Africa to recover 350 tons of marine plastic waste per year. They have designed a supply chain in which waste has value and is creating a sustainable and scalable solution that reduces marine plastic and improves the lives of marginalized coastal communities. The plastic is then upcycled into a new “sea-stainable” raw material. Sustainable Products with a Conscience.
Imagine What Could Happen
If Everyone with a 401K Plan Divested from Fossil Fuels-
and invested in renewables and in building a more just, equitable and sustainable world.
Fossil fuels are destroying our planet. Climate change solutions are now a necessity. The world’s top 7 plastic-producing companies are all fossil fuel companies; and the majority of retirement plans include fossil fuel investments. “There’s 100 million people in the US with $10 trillion in assets who have no idea they’re investing in their own destruction,” says Andrew Behar, chief executive officer of the shareholder advocacy group As You Sow. “It’s been completely hidden.” Bloomberg report.
LEARN how Wayne Silby became a champion for using the power of investment for social good – from the anti-apartheid movement to green investing. His story about the Calvert Fund is featured in Stone Soup for the World and the Stone Soup Educational Curriculum.
Tetris video game founder Henk Rogers has invested his wealth in renewables, and with the Blue Planet Alliance he became a global champion for Hawaii’s Goal for 100% by 2045. Read Henk’s story.
Earth Day Is A Good Time To Commit To Doing Whatever We Can To STOP Plastics.
It was the first Earth Day, in 1970,that awakened Ben & Jerry’s cofounder Ben Cohen’s desire to invest his blood, sweat, and money in a sustainable (and fun!) business that would inspire others to join him. That same historic event led Ed Begley Jr. to adopt a sustainable lifestyle, invest in green companies, and build green homes while using his power as an actor to promote environmentally friendly living, and to lead by example. (He is famously known for bicycling to the Oscars.)
Walter Cronkite boldly covered the first Earth Day with the same passion he had for covering the moon landing; he rallied more than 20 million Americans to join the emerging green movement.
Nominate a Climate Champion 2024
The Institute opened nominations for the Cronkite Awards 2024 for climate champions. In 2023 we presented the Cronkite Awards for Climate Education to government leaders who have championed climate education initiatives in their states: Climate Chief Melissa Hoffer (MA), First Lady Tammy Murphy (NJ), Rep. Nicole Lowen (HI), State Rep. Christine Palm (CT), and State Senator Marc Pacheco (MA).
EMAIL: CronkiteAwards2024@stonesoupleadership.org
About the Stone Soup Leadership Institute
www.stonesoupleadership.org