Presentation Type
Long presentation (faculty/staff) 15-20 minutes
Campus
Daytona Beach
Status
Faculty
Faculty/Staff Department
Honors
Student Year and Major
Camdyn Doucette, first year, AE; Regan Bossie, first year, CE
Start Date
12-4-2022 3:00 PM
Presentation Description/Abstract
On February 23, 2022, the UN agreed to start negotiating a world-first global treaty on plastic waste--since nearly 200 nations unanimously agreed to move toward a legally binding plastics treaty by 2024. In 2019 the UN Environmental Programme report highlighted that "our world is drowning in plastic." As with the climate change crisis (to which plastics production and disposal are also linked), the data resoundingly illustrate the imminent systemic threat that disposable plastics pose to the world's seas, freshwater sources, soils, food supply, air, and species. Nevertheless, plastics production is predicted to rise dramatically over the next 20 years, with yet more plastic added to the 6.5 billion tons of non-biodegradable plastic already amassed throughout the environment. Rather than wait for top-down measures (which are agonizingly slow in coming), the Plastic-Free Campus Initiative at ERAU, via the university's Honors Program, has organized to work toward a campus-wide end to procurement and distribution of single-use plastics. If we can't "control the world," can we at least curtail the problem right here, on our own rather small campus? What are the obstacles? Solutions? Members of the organization will discuss the issues and outline strategies for direct action.
Keywords
single-use plastic; plastic waste; social change
Included in
Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Commons, Educational Leadership Commons, Materials Science and Engineering Commons, Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons
Let's Get Serious About It: Plastic-Free Campus Initiative
On February 23, 2022, the UN agreed to start negotiating a world-first global treaty on plastic waste--since nearly 200 nations unanimously agreed to move toward a legally binding plastics treaty by 2024. In 2019 the UN Environmental Programme report highlighted that "our world is drowning in plastic." As with the climate change crisis (to which plastics production and disposal are also linked), the data resoundingly illustrate the imminent systemic threat that disposable plastics pose to the world's seas, freshwater sources, soils, food supply, air, and species. Nevertheless, plastics production is predicted to rise dramatically over the next 20 years, with yet more plastic added to the 6.5 billion tons of non-biodegradable plastic already amassed throughout the environment. Rather than wait for top-down measures (which are agonizingly slow in coming), the Plastic-Free Campus Initiative at ERAU, via the university's Honors Program, has organized to work toward a campus-wide end to procurement and distribution of single-use plastics. If we can't "control the world," can we at least curtail the problem right here, on our own rather small campus? What are the obstacles? Solutions? Members of the organization will discuss the issues and outline strategies for direct action.