Wyandanch teens to host summit on plastic pollution for Captain Planet Foundation
Geydi Ventura Diaz was just 14 when she felt the pull to actively help lessen the effects of climate change.
“I was noticing when I was growing up that there are a lot of things that could be improved with the help of us and the community,” said the now 17-year-old Wyandanch resident. “I want to live in a peaceful environment, but it can’t be peaceful when things around you are in danger.”
Ventura Diaz, who graduated from Wyandanch Memorial High School in June, is part of a group of Wyandanch teens taking part in a global summit July 29 at the Martin Luther King Jr. elementary school to address the impact of plastic pollution on the environment. Only one other group of students in the United States has signed on to host a live event for the Planeteer Alliance, a program run by the Captain Planet Foundation, a nonprofit based in Atlanta that works to empower youth to solve global problems. According to the alliance, 25 events will be held around the world.
Wyandanch resident Laurie Farber, who runs the nonprofit environmental group Starflower Experiences, signed up for the summit. For more than two decades, Farber has run the after-school Earth Rangers program out of the elementary school. A group of Farber’s teen interns for her organization’s Sustainable Wyandanch project are helping organize the event.
Plastic facts
- Americans use 100 billion plastic bags a year, the manufacturing of which requires 12 million barrels of oil.
- About 730,000 tons of plastic bags, sacks and wraps were generated in the United States in 2015. More than 87% of those items are never recycled, winding up in landfills and the ocean.
- Plastic that is typically used in bottles, bags and food containers contains chemical additives such as endocrine disrupters, which have been associated with negative health effects.
Source: www.biologicaldiversity.org
The summit will feature a short movie on the history and impact of plastic pollution on the environment, as well as speaker Patti Woods, head of the Port Washington-based nonprofit Grassroots Environmental Education. There will also be a visit to the nearby Carlls River watershed, and a discussion among the students on how to create a project to address plastic use in the community.
“It’s easier for us to take action in our own lives, especially young people,” Farber said. “There are things they personally can do every day.”
Woods said young people need to first become aware of how ubiquitous plastic is in their lives.
“They’ve grown up with plastic, it’s a way of life so they don’t even question it,” she said. “Plastic is hidden in everything they touch, everything they wear, everything they’re eating and drinking out of.”
The summit is an opportunity to have a conversation and come up with solutions, she said.
“I want to know from them what do they think, how can we solve this problem,” Woods said. “Because those are the things that will stick. It’s not about what I’m going to tell them to do, it’s about what they’re going to think about doing.”
Christopher Turnier, 15, said he hopes the event will help create a lasting impact on the community.
“I think it’s cool that we get to be one of the only places in the world that’s doing this,” he said of the summit. “I’m hoping for a change to happen in the town so that even after I’ve graduated, I know that I left something good here.”
The summit, open to all teens, will take place from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., followed by a plastic-free dinner. To register, go to planeteeralliance.com. To be a sponsor to help offset costs, go to starflexp@aol.com
Denise Bonilla has worked at Newsday since 2003 and covers the Town of Babylon, including the villages of Lindenhurst and Amityville.
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