For the second year in a row, a team of Huliau students was invited to the Plastic Ocean Pollution Solutions Youth Summit hosted by Algalita at the Ocean Institute in Dana Point California. There they presented two projects they have been working on relating to preventing plastic pollution in our oceans.
They shared their ongoing #sporkitup project , a film and social media campaign they created to encourage Maui youth to reduce their use of single-use plastic by using reusable bamboo sporks in place of plastic utensils at school and when eating out.
They also shared the Ocean Friendly Restaurants Hawaiʻi campaign which will they will publicly launch in April 2016 along with statewide partners Surfrider Foundation, Kōkua Hawaiʻi Foundation and other Rise Above Plastics Coalition partners. This campaign, which will be featured in our next newsletter, was modeled after San Diego’s OFR program as well as our students’ Foam Free Future project from last year.
The summit was attended by nearly 100 youth ages 11-18 from around the world who are also working on projects to prevent plastic ocean pollution. During the three day summit, students learned from guest speakers, got input on their projects, and networked with youth from around the world who are working on the global issue of plastic pollution. For our Huliau team, a couple of exciting collaborations have already emerged from this summit which we will be excited to share with you all as they develop.
We would like to thank Algalita Marine Research and Education for putting together this amazing experience for young leaders and Kōkua Hawaiʻi Foundation for partially sponsoring our trip to POPS! You can learn more about our students projects by watching their presentation video below.