Dan Xie, Political Director at Student Public Interest Research Groups (PIRGs), shared stories from young people making change to reduce plastic pollution, such as the recent pledge from Eckerd College to break free from plastic, prohibiting the purchase of most nonessential single-use plastics using College funds.

1. Break Free From Plastics
How college students are leveraging their power to change our single-use society.

3. Dan Xie, Political Director
Started with the PIRGs in 2005.
Overseen campus work in 11 states.
Knocked on doors in 13 states & D.C.
Mediocre rock climber.

4. Problem(s)
Extraction
Transportation
Production
Human health
Disposal

5. Solution
Stop making and using unnecessary single-
use plastics.
Period.

6. Coalition Strategy
1. Shift demand to disincentivize single-use plastics production.
Pass bans, move major purchasers, educate consumers and change
consumer behavior/culture.
2. Create models for a zero-waste / circular economy.
Pass circular economy bills, closed community examples, corporate
models.
3. (Direct action and local organizing at sites of petrochemical buildout)

7. Why Campuses?
1. Closed-loop, captive audience
○ Efficient place to do grassroots work
○ Ideal community for shifting
narratives (winning hearts & minds)
○ Ideal places to create small scale
zero waste models

8. Why Campuses?
2. Higher Education
○ Thought leaders
○ Purchasing power ($487 billion, 2019
revenue)
○ Competition

9. Why Campuses?
3. Young people
○ It’s not a movement without young
people
○ Time & idealism
○ Coveted by corporations
“In an interview with BBC News, Jope said that
Unilever's decision was partly an attempt to
appeal to younger generations of consumers who
care about "the conduct of the companies and the
brands that they're buying."”

10. Campaign Goals
1. Pass local and state zero waste policies
2. Pass local and state bans of individual, particularly uncharismatic
single-use plastics.
3. Get corporate and institutional (ie. campus, sports stadium, aquarium)
commitments to ban items or go zero waste.
4. Fight petrochemical expansion and incineration.
Continue to win hearts and minds, talk about plastics as a non-partisan
issue.

12. 2018 - 2019
● 19 Plastics Campaigns nationally
○ 2 corporate
○ 4 state
○ 6 city/municipal
○ 7 campus
● 8 wins
● 8 campaigns made significant
progress
“While we’ve seen local progress on campus and in
Seattle on banning single-use plastic products,
WashPIRG is working to garner support from other
nonprofits to gain traction throughout the state.”

13. PIRG / PLAN
- 9 states
- 40 field staff, 50 campuses
- 4,000 volunteers / year
- 100,000 grassroots actions / year
- 25 states, D.C.
- 88 campuses (3 international)
- 13 staff overseeing regions / issue
areas
Total reach of 100+ campuses and nearly 2 million college students.

14. Organizing on Campus: Dan’s Hot TipsTM
1. Decide your level of involvement
a. A few tactical actions?
b. Volunteers or interns?
c. A full campus campaign?
2. Enter the community
a. Existing non-profits, student groups,
faculty taking action
b. Campus approval
3. Specific roles & goals
4. Leverage the PPC network

15. Questions?
Dan Xie, Political Director
Student Public Interest Research Groups
dan@studentpirgs.org
Twitter: @DanLikeDawn
Cell: 858-353-1452