KION - Monterey, Salinas, Santa Cruz - News WeatherUCSC Students Spend Break Raising Awareness

UCSC Students Spend Break Raising Awareness

SANTA CRUZ, Calif-  More than fifty students from CALPIRG Students chapters are spending their spring break traveling the California coastline to raise awareness about plastic pollution on our beaches and the need for action.

Tuesday they stopped in Santa Cruz to meet with public officials and spread the word about why plastic pollution is a threat to our oceans, and why they believe the answer lies in a statewide ban on single- use, polystyrene take-out containers.

Styrofoam breaks into smaller and smaller pieces but never fully biodegrades.  It is almost impossible to recycle: it must be cleaned of all food, it's bulky and expensive to transport, and it yields a low grade substance that is good for very little. 

"California is home to a spectacular coastline, we need to continue taking steps toward a cleaner ocean to preserve the environment and protect natural wildlife," said Elle Vermillion, a junior at UC Santa Cruz and student activist. "That is why I support a statewide Styrofoam ban."

Several cities on the Central Coast have already banned the use of Styrofoam take-out containers.

"There is a pile of trash in the ocean that's twice the size of Texas.  That is completely disgusting and ridiculous.  Common sense tells us that we need to do something about it, and California needs to lead the way in making that happen.  Banning Styrofoam is a great start," said Christina Vu, a first year at UC Santa Cruz who grew up in the Bay Area.

Several elected officials joined the students for their tour stop in Santa Cruz, where the cleaned the beach for an hour and recorded the types of trash that they found.  Plastic in various forms was among the most common. 

Students also dressed up in beach gear such as bathing suites and floaties, and displayed a giant postcard from Santa Cruz to Sacramento, asking the Governor to pass a statewide Styrofoam ban.  They also applauded the city for taking action and banning Styrofoam locally.

"I led the effort to ban polystyrene in the County of Santa Cruz and I support a state-wide polystyrene ban," said Neil Coonerty, Santa Cruz County Supervisor. "Polystyrene is a threat to our environment and our state should take action to ban it."

Styrofoam breaks into smaller and smaller pieces but never fully biodegrades.  It is almost impossible to recycle: it must be cleaned of all food, it's bulky and expensive to transport, and it yields a low grade substance that is good for very little. 

"California is home to a spectacular coastline, we need to continue taking steps toward a cleaner ocean to preserve the environment and protect natural wildlife," said Elle Vermillion, a junior at UC Santa Cruz and student activist. "That is why I support a statewide Styrofoam ban."