All the youth were standing in solidarity, holding our scroll up high for the councilmembers to see. Representing more than 1,500 students from the island of O‘ahu who supported Bill 40 but could not attend the hearing in person, this scroll had been an instrumental part of our campaign.
As I dug deeper into my research, I discovered how the health of the ocean is intrinsically connected to the health of humans. Yet every minute the equivalent of a garbage truck full of plastic enters our ocean.
Inspired by my experience at OHBC and the Lonely Whale team’s #StopSucking campaign, I challenged students to say no to plastic straws for a week. If they succeeded, I offered them a stainless steel straw to continue with their efforts and use as a conversation starter with friends.
The Covid-19 pandemic has laid bare the interconnected cracks in our systems that have been there for a long time: societal inequities, environmental injustices, social injustices. We now have an opportunity to rethink and reset. There are better ways to live on this planet, and this pandemic is showing that from a new perspective.