gw purchased 26,000 reusable water bottles from didómi, a water bottle company with the mission to combat the water crisis in developing countries and provide high-quality reusable water bottles to encourage individuals to reduce their plastic consumption. 

not only will gw’s purchase of these reusable water bottles reduce plastic use on campus –– this financial investment will reach beyond campus. didómi partners with the nonprofit organization water is life to provide reliable access to water across africa. according to didómi, each bottle purchased provides 10 years of water access to a person in africa. using the funds from the partnership with gw, didómi will donate 50% of its profits to fund the nonprofit’s water projects. 

on the morning of march 21, two of didómi’s founders, lamah bility and brian bishop, came to gw’s campus to distribute water bottles. while telling the mission of their company, bility shared the personal story of fellow co-founder anaa jibicho. jibicho, a refugee from ethiopia, lost two siblings to water-borne diseases. when jibicho lived in liberia before his family won a lottery to move to the united states, he had to wake up each morning to walk miles to fetch water for his family, billy said. jibicho had a realization about the accessibility of water once in the u.s., where clean water conveniently flows from the tap in many places.

while listening to didómi’s story, students colored and personalized their water bottles. junior sarah teague painted clouds on her new bottle, placing her personalized design around the gw’s plastic campaign logo and didómi’s logo, the partnership aesthetically represented on the bottle.

teague says her interest in sustainably centers on gw divesting from fossil fuels. in 2020, after seven years of student organizing on the issue, gw committed to divest from all public and private companies with a focus on fossil fuel extraction by 2025, in alignment with recommendations from the university’s environmental, social, and governance (esg) responsibility task force. yet, there is a need for education around gw’s positive changes and events to announce gw’s sustainability-related efforts. 

volunteer audrey litto, a junior at gw involved with take back the tap, a student initiative to transition away from using single-use plastic water bottles to reusable, refillable bottles, shared that she hopes people will take advantage of the new water bottle stations popping up on campus and the new high-quality didómi water bottles. 

senior jack mcmorrow, a volunteer through a service-learning class at gw, has participated in passing out didómi bottles outside of the covid test trailers for the past week. 

“it felt great to be part of such an important initiative to reduce single-use plastic on campus,” mcmorrow said. “i was truly excited to see the enthusiasm of the members of our community who were willing to utilize these water bottles. so many people were excited to approach us and were eager to learn about ways to reduce plastic use.” 

didómi was named after the greek word meaning “to give.” the logo symbolizes crossed fingers representing hope, or optimism for better days together. through efforts like this, there is hope for gw as a collective to make a difference to reduce waste and help save the environment. 

in june of 2020, the george washington university announced an initiative to eliminate single-use plastics on campus. as the first campus in the district of columbia to implement a policy of this kind, i wanted to dig deeper into the specifics of it. what are the specific logistics of the policy? what challenges has gw encountered implementing it? what do students think of gw’s efforts? after interviewing a director of sustainability at gw and surveying students, i got to the bottom of the story. 

the entire city of st. pete has implemented an ordinance banning plastic drinking straws. gina driscoll, vice chair of the st. petersburg city council, was one of the founders of the “no straw st. pete” campaign which ultimately led to the ban being passed in 2018. 

“it was never really just about plastic drinking straws,” driscoll said. “it was starting with that one simple object that grew into a bigger conversation about making better choices for the environment.”

an estimated 6300 million metric tons (mt) of plastic waste had been produced between 1950, when the large-scale production and use of the material began, and 2015, according to a study from that year. of that 6300 mt, a mere 9% has been recycled. another study showed that in 2010 alone, 275 mt of plastic was produced in 192 coastal countries. somewhere between 4.8 and 12.7 mt entered the ocean that same year. st. petersburg’s proximity to the florida gulf coast pins the municipality at the front of these issues. 

passionate about the environment and sustainability, driscoll wanted to figure out how st. petersburg could “lead the way” in getting rid of single-use plastics. during her first year on city council, driscoll came across an article about a ban on plastic straws in fort myers. 

“sometimes we find great ideas by looking at what other cities are doing,” driscoll said. 

this led to the formation of a campaign called “no straw st. pete,” which worked in collaboration with local organizations like “i love the burg” and suncoast rise against plastics coalition, even including the national bank ozk. businesses could pledge to go “straw free” and join the campaign, getting them a sticker on their door and more credit among environmentalists. by december 2018, the campaign had demonstrated that banning plastic straws could be viable. 

the suncoast rise against plastics (rap) coalition is composed of 17 institutions and environmental groups including tampa bay watch, st. petersburg audubon society, clearwater marine aquarium, and national groups like oceana. 

oceana field representative for the florida gulf coast, hunter miller, was involved with the st. petersburg straw ban from early on, meeting with the suncoast rap coalition and members of the st. petersburg city council. 

miller acknowledged that the coalition means more than just passing laws. volunteers work hard during beach clean ups and other events throughout the area, but the pollution problems still linger. 

“what we’ve found is, and what volunteers have found, is that those individual things are important, but they’re not going to get us to where we need to be,” miller said. “and that’s what really kind of brought the coalition together.” 

nevertheless, volunteers were a driving force behind this campaign, according to miller. after the “no straw st. pete” campaign started in early 2018, volunteers from the st. petersburg community went door-to-door to businesses to propose the straw ban and try to rally support. 

“it takes a village, really, when you want to get something ambitious done,” miller said. “but that strong volunteer legwork and people coming together is what it takes.” 

and businesses really were open to this idea of banning straws. miller said that a survey sent out to businesses after the ordinance was put in place showed “overwhelmingly positive” attitudes from businesses in response to the ordinance, and very few businesses in the st. petersburg area opposed it. 

according to driscoll, businesses were not forced to quit plastic straws cold turkey. there was a “phasing period” that started with straws being available by request only or in drive thrus. now, plastic drinking straws are not allowed anywhere in the city of st. pete, unless by special request due to medical conditions. 

kahwa coffee, a tampa bay coffee chain, is one business in st. petersburg that has been with this from the start in 2018. according to kahwa marketing associate natalie moore, the business is close to “i love the burg,” which is how they got on board with the “no straw st. pete” campaign. 

“we were one of the first to partner with them and start removing plastic straws from the company,” moore said. “also with the production of sippy lids, we kind of stray away from offering straws at all.” 

on behalf of the company as a whole, moore said that they have seen mostly positive attitudes from customers about the straw ban. 

“there always are people who don’t like it, but we do provide the alternative sippy lid so you don’t necessarily need a straw,” moore said. “but honestly, a lot of our customers are local and very involved with the community, and they’re completely on board with the no plastic straws.” 

additionally, kahwa has reusable plastic and metal straws available for sale.

there are 13 kahwa coffee locations across the tampa bay area, and even though straws are only legally banned in the st. petersburg locations, kahwa does not offer plastic straws at any of their locations, according to moore. 

that being said, if you go to a dunkin’ donuts in st. petersburg, you’ll likely be given a blue compostable straw instead of one made from plastic. but if you drive just ten minutes away to the neighboring city of gulfport, you’ll get a plastic straw from the same franchise. 

and that doesn’t just apply to dunkin’ donuts. gulfport also considered banning plastic straws the same time that st. petersburg did; but, the city council voted to table the consideration in 2018. similarly, st. pete beach, a separate township from the city of st. petersburg, lacks a ban on plastic straws. a lot of businesses in st. pete beach and all the beaches close-by do try to stay away from single-use plastic, but there is no law requiring them to do so. 

st. petersburg, gulfport, and st. pete beach are all in the same county. so at a county level, there are no laws against plastics. it’s at the smaller city level that some laws do exist. 

according to associate professor of marine science at eckerd college amy siuda, policy is one of the most impactful ways to reduce single-use plastic pollution. 

“having the codified (ordinance against plastic straws) is much more effective than just asking people to reduce their straw use,” siuda said. “because then it’s just not available. you can just remove those things from the system and people will find other ways to live without a plastic straw.” 

siuda has been at the college for six years and runs the tampa bay microplastics monitoring program with professor of biology and marine science shannon gowans. the program is a part of the larger tampa bay estuary program. 

siuda agrees that single-use plastics are something that can be avoided.

“single-use plastics are mostly unnecessary,” siuda said. “if we can reduce our single-use consumption, then we can reduce, hopefully, a lot of the harm that can be happening in the environment from plastics.” 

siuda and gowans’ monitoring research focuses mainly on microplastics and how these “invisible” plastics can be affecting all sorts of organisms. as a plankton ecologist, siuda has focused her attention on how these microorganisms, or copepods, are interacting with microplastics. gowans, a marine mammalogist, realized that a larger grazer is also being affected by plastics in the bay––manatees. 

while, according to siuda, the majority of plastics are coming from the land and not from river runoff, humans are not always the main transportation of these plastics. when terrestrial animals, like a squirrel for example, get ahold of these plastics while scavenging, they inevitably break those plastics down. 

“they’re dropping microplastics in the process of that, or breaking that thing down physically into smaller pieces that make it into the ocean as microplastics,” siuda said. “the big stuff is harmful to bigger organisms, but the little stuff is kind of harmful to everything.” 

siuda also added that larger plastics are capable of transporting invasive species across water systems, having serious negative impacts on ecosystems. 

this research and monitoring helps to buttress policies, and aids in educating others on the harms of single-use plastics and microplastics. according to siuda, education starts the process of getting support from people, which leads to policies. 

just by choosing not to take one plastic straw, consumers have the ability to limit the amount of single-use plastic going into the system. 

“i know it seems like one person can’t make a difference, but you have to start somewhere,” siuda said. 

the idea of starting somewhere small often leads to a larger-scale change. miller said that this is a driving force for systemic change. 

“what really brought people out to hit the pavement,” he said, “is the excitement to systematically address this problem through policy and knowing that the changes that they’re biting for locally are going to fuel the movement for bigger change at the state level, and the national level.”

––

editor’s note: this story is the first in the planet forward series “so long, single-use?” check back over the next several weeks for more stories about how communities and individuals can––and are––reducing single-use plastic waste.

speakers included new epa  administrator michael s. regan, nbc’s legendary broadcaster al roker, national geographic explorer and filmmaker john d. sutter, the mayor of phoenix — the hottest city in america — kate gallego, and gw’s own president thomas j. leblanc. student correspondents highlighted their work and we proudly announced the winners of the planet forward storyfest 2021 competition.

these interviews to come, shared here later this week.

in the meantime, read a summit summary in this story from gw today.

this initiative was influenced by eckerd’s reduce single use team, a project funded by a two-year grant from the national oceanic and atmospheric administration (noaa) marine debris program, working alongside the post-landfill action network (plan) and the public interest research group’s (pirg) plastics campaign.

the pledge, originally outlined by plan and modified to suit eckerd, will prohibit the use of the college budget to purchase unnecessary single-use plastic items such as beverage bottles, plates, utensils, balloons, plastic shipping and packaging materials, and much more.

president eastman hopes this agreement will inspire other colleges to join eckerd in taking a stand against single-use plastics. 

“it’s a statement by the college to say this is important, and we’re going to do everything we can, now, to eliminate the use of plastics,” eastman said.

plastic pollution poses a large threat to marine ecosystems and wildlife because plastics do not biodegrade. instead, they disintegrate over time into little pieces of plastic known as microplastics, which causes great harm to the marine ecosystem. wildlife also unknowingly ingest these microplastics and the plastic continues up the food chain.

most plastic items never make it to a recycling facility to be properly reused, or are not recyclable to begin with.  

“the sad reality is that the way that the recycling is being done in the united states right now is incredibly ineffective,” said shannon gowans, ph.d., a professor of biology and marine science at eckerd. the most ideal solution is to stop the plastic production at its source.

the inspiration for this pledge came in spring 2019 when alex gordon, pirg plastics campaign coordinator at eckerd, and will shedden, pirg new voters project coordinator, found plan’s break free from plastic pledge and brought this to the attention of the reduce single use team.

“it has been a team effort all across the board… now is the time that we needed something big, and i think this pledge was it,” said senior trish schranck, one of the two interns working on the reduce single use project at eckerd.

items considered essential single-use plastic, such as those used for scientific research and health and safety needs, will still be allowed.

this ban will officially be enacted beginning jan. 1, 2020.

flagstaff – universities in arizona are stepping up how they handle food waste and single-use plastic. all three of the state’s universities have robust composting programs to reduce what ends up in landfills. but northern arizona university has expanded its efforts to include reusable food containers, and it banned plastic straws this year. now, flagstaff businesses are taking similar steps.

“i see all of the plastic in the ocean and i really want to make sure nau isn’t contributing to that at all,” said senior emerald mccormick, chair of the student run organization nau green fund, which provides funding for projects that reduce the university’s environmental impact. the funds come from a fee nau students pay for sustainability.

in january, mccormick implemented a system at all the campus dining halls that allows students to use “green” food containers that resemble takeout containers. students pay a one time $5 fee for a token, which allows them to check out a container. when they’re finished eating, students return the containers to a machine that stores them until they can be washed, and they get their token back.

“a lot of students are really excited for it. that’s why we expanded it all across campus because they kept asking for it,” mccormick said.

not much of the waste from the food containers goes into the trash. at least 90 percent of nau’s dining hall food waste is composted. after four stages of processing, the waste ends up in piles of compost hidden behind campus.

“all that soil just goes back to nau,” said nau campus-dining sustainability coordinator gaby galvan. “we use it on landscaping. we use it in community gardens. we use it in our greenhouses. it goes to the community members. so it’s just all recycled back into our community.”

composting saves the university on garbage disposal costs. last year, more than 300,000 pounds of food waste made it into the compost piles. that number could be more this year, as campus dining now uses straws that are 100% compostable.

galvan said it was “pretty easy” to get rid of small, disposable plastic on campus, “and also at the same time create a behavior change, and get students to start thinking if they really need all of the plastic disposables that they use throughout the day.”

the behavior change is spreading to flagstaff businesses. laura diez is the nau student who wants to get half of flagstaff businesses straw-free by 2020. she also leads the straw free flag campaign, which is an effort to eliminate single-use plastics.

“i really just am looking for some sort of mindfulness around straws. … obviously i hope to see those eradicated pretty soon,” diez said.

one local business, single speed coffee cafe, no longer uses plastic straws. instead, patrons can get a paper straw and pay extra for a plastic cup.

“nau is always going to be a really big influence on all of us and their ban kind of makes it more known to the students as well,” said zachary shouse, manager of single speed. “it kind of starts to be a normal thing as people go around.”

at least 10 businesses have signed the straw free flag pledge, and about 30 businesses now provide straws by request only, diez said.

arizona state university has similar programs in place. food is composted and plastic straws are not available in dining halls.

the university of arizona is exploring alternative straw options, according to trevor ledbetter, who directs the office of sustainability. the university also has a composting program in partnership with tucson.

—

this story is part of elemental: covering sustainability, a new multimedia collaboration between cronkite news, arizona pbs, kjzz, kpcc, rocky mountain pbs and pbs socal.

republished with permission. see the original piece at cronkite news. for more stories from cronkite news, visit cronkitenews.azpbs.org.