1. ONE:
Healing the environment, one
plastic bottle at a time
Patricia Speier
CEO
1516 Grand View Dr. Berkeley CA 94705
patricia.speier@ucsf.edu
510/219-8670

2. OVERVIEW
• High school teens and their family members make
pledges to reduce plastic bottle usage that they
implement on a weekly/monthly basis. Totals are
compiled by groups for an environmentally inspired
competition.
• Our solution is unique in that it is an easily scalable
program directed at the schools for the purpose of
education and personal engagement.

3. PROBLEM / OPPORTUNITY
• Currently almost all private high schools and an increasing number of
public high schools in California require a service commitment of their
students. Teens typically feel disengaged while fulfilling this obligation
because it doesn’t feel “real” or big to them. By making tangible
pledges to reduce plastic bottle usage and influencing family members
to do the same, they can focus their energy on something that truly
feels important because it can be quickly scaled up across the
state/country and really make a difference.
• Students/families would make a pledge at our website to use fewer
plastic bottles and would receive a congratulatory message upon
achieving their commitment. Data for participating schools would be
aggregated and environmental groups would congratulate schools for
achieving a certain percentage sign-up rate for their students.

4. ADVANTAGES
• When teenagers really get behind something they are able to strongly
influence the family more than anyone else.
• Teenagers tend to be unaware of their own usage of plastic bottles, so
helping them become more aware helps everyone use less.
• Mothers tend to listen to teenagers and follow through with what
teenagers request. Since mothers are typically the ones who shop for
the family, this approach is optimally suited to change purchasing
patterns.
• A unified student body can influence how schools make purchasing
decisions. For example, school administrators might only authorize
drinks that come in cans and can be fully recycled.

5. TECHNOLOGY
EXAMPLE
• Jane thinks to herself: “Right now I’m using four plastic bottles per week and I
can limit it to one per week” and she signs up for one per week. Then Jane
goes to her brother and says: “You should also sign up. Since you’re using
six plastic bottles per week you should commit to two per week.” Then Jane
talks to her mom and says: “We’re using plastic bottles too much and we
could probably do fine using fewer. Could you sign up and commit to using
only one plastic bottle every three days?” Jane’s brother and mom agree and
they each login to the website and make their pledge. Everyone checks in
periodically at the website (once a day/week/month) and enters data related
to their pledge. Each person can elect to renew their pledge at any time or
indicate that they have achieved their goal and set a new goal.

6. MARKETING
• Ambassador program: Participating high school teen groups, such as the “Falcons,”
would recruit other members. Each group would compete to make their aggregate
data lower than some other group in the school. Collectively each school would
compete against other schools and this way the approach could go viral and really
amplify the effect of changing perceptions and behavior patterns -- possibly
extending to regional competitions.
• Social media: Dedicated Facebook, Twitter and Instagram sites would link to website
where team totals, key messaging and calls to action would be posted/updated.
o Creative content submission contests would reinforce the cause and the
competitive spirit.
• Example: Snaps of creatively decorated environmental drink containers might
win the sponsored contest on Instagram; winners would be posted on website,
Facebook and tweeted.
• Local and regional media outreach, tied to Earth Day or other national environmental
observance day/week/month would detail compelling aspects of competition,
competitor students/groups and key messages.

7. TEAM
Patricia Speier
 Professor in Psychiatry at the University of California San Francisco
 Extensive experience working with teenagers
 Expertise in child and adult development and creativity
Richard Kass
 Instructor Stanford Graduate School of Business
 Extensive experience managing teams
 Expertise in interpersonal dynamics
Sally Speier
 Public Relations Consultant
 Extensive experience working with social media
 Expertise in project management
Rob Hedges
 Teacher at Bentley School in Berkeley
 Extensive experience addressing environmental issues
 Expertise in community action

8. CURRENT STATUS / NEEDS
 There is no “profit” to be made in the conventional sense since
there
are no financial returns or business competitors.
 Funding is needed to create and maintain a sophisticated web site
that interfaces with social media integration with sites such as
Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube.
 Employee to handle public relations outreach including calling
schools and inquiring about interest at the school/district level.