The Eco-Heroes of El Rancho Charter Middle School recently partnered with the Starbucks located at 5741 E Santa Ana Canyon Rd. to host “Bring a Reusable Mug Day.”
The Eco-Heroes are five female students from El Rancho, who called on their community to reduce plastic waste by bringing a reusable mug to Starbucks on November 19 instead of opting for a disposable paper or plastic cup.
Many people mistakenly believe paper coffee cups are recyclable, when in fact very few of these cups ever get recycled. The traditional paper coffee cup is actually lined with plastic to make it “water tight,” and the resulting mixed-material makes these cups very difficult to recycle. The scale of the paper coffee cup problem is enormous, as Starbucks alone uses an average of six billion plastic lined cups each year. The Eco-Hero girls saw a simple solution: bypass the disposable cup in favor of a reusable one, and they are advocating that we join them by making the small habit change of going reusable for a big environmental impact. They hope that by participating in their event, people will become more mindful of the amount of plastic waste they produce each day and be inspired to reduce plastic every day.
The Eco-Heroes were inspired to action by participating in Grades of Green’s Water Campaign-Reduce Plastics program. Grades of Green is an environmental nonprofit that empowers students to turn their passion into environmental action. Each semester, Grades of Green helps student leaders launch environmentally-focused campaigns around the globe. When a student team joins a campaign, they are paired with a Grades of Green mentor who provides personal guidance, support and coaching.
All of Grades of Green’s services are provided to students at zero cost. Campaigns are designed to encourage students to take action on an environmental issue they are passionate about. First, students learn about this issue in their region, then develop a solution and craft a related project to implement in their school and/or community in order to champion the environmental change they want to see.
Participating student teams gain access to webinars featuring environmental experts, the opportunity to connect with other Grades of Green students around the world, and the chance to earn eco-grants to fund the implementation of their environmental project. Grades of Green provides student teams with these services at no cost.
El Rancho’s Eco-Heroes hope to continue their Grades of Green activism for many years, and help their community become more aware of what they can do too.
Inspired to get your school involved? Find more information and sign up your student team at GradesofGreen.org.
