Programs

Gold Award • $5,000

Team Marine

Nikita Bahadur, Lilly Chertock, Jay Cho, Ansel Garcia-Langley, Isabel Homberg Reissmeier, Anastasia Shakhidzhanova, Siri Storstein-Norgaard, Kian Taheri, Daniel Thurmond, Catherine Todd, & Karina Wisen

Santa Monica High School
Santa Monica, CA

With their school located only minutes away from the California coast, the members of Team Marine see the effects of single-use plastic every day on their beaches. They decided to attack the marine debris problem by targeting three local stakeholders: their peers, the Board of Education, and community members. First, Team Marine gave presentations to 800 high school freshmen to educate them about plastic pollution and promote a zero-waste lifestyle. Team Marine also presented at Board of Education meetings, successfully lobbying the school district to pass a sustainability plan that ensures support for integrating environmental literacy and stewardship into the school curriculum. Last, but not least, Team Marine engaged the broader community by participating in local events, culminating in a giant plastic bottle installation on the Third Street Promenade in Santa Monica. This interactive display, which Team Marine members created out of 600 plastic water bottles, gave the team the opportunity to educate more than 400 community members about marine debris and alternatives to single-use plastics. Team Marine also encouraged visitors to sign a pledge to reduce their plastic footprint as well as petitions to support various state legislative bills that would help reduce pollution from plastic packaging and products.

Silver Award • $2,500

“EnviroPAST”

E Wen Wong

Burnside High School
Christchurch, New Zealand

Realizing that many of her peers are passionate about environmental issues but unsure about what actions to take, E Wen developed, organized, and hosted “EnviroPAST: Plastic And Sustainability Talks,” a two-day, youth-for-youth conference with presentations by businesses, academics, artists, and entrepreneurs at the forefront of sustainability. More than 100 New Zealand students ages 12-24 attended the conference, which challenged delegates to think differently about environmental issues and question the way society approaches these problems. E Wen also teamed up with Trees for Canterbury and the Christchurch City Council to host a tree planting as part of the conference. Feedback from the attendees was overwhelmingly positive, demonstrating that E Wen successfully brought together youth who are engaged and excited about making a difference and equipped them with critical tools and a supportive community of peers.

Distinguished Honorable Mention • $750

“One Swap At A Time”

Carys McKenzie & Sofia Ramalingam

Santa Monica High School
Santa Monica, CA

One Swap at A Time wanted to break the myth that living a zero-waste lifestyle is difficult and expensive, so they created an educational and interactive presentation and delivered it to approximately 1,000 students at local middle and elementary schools. They emphasized that living sustainably means not creating trash in the first place, so they focused on a new “R” (refuse) and discussed many eco-friendly items that can be swapped in for single-use ones, as well as various resources to help live waste-free. In their presentation, One Swap at a Time walked the talk, upcycling all of their stage props and decorations from used materials. Feedback from the middle and elementary school teachers was very positive—they reported that, inspired by the presentation, their students have made zero-waste swaps and initiated their own clubs and environmental projects.

What the Judges Loved: One Swap at a Time understood their audience and integrated media and games into their presentation to make it relatable, engaging, and fun.

“The visuals and the content were very well done! [They] really had a clear vision in mind and executed it well.” —Guest Judge Doorae Shin, Surfrider Foundation O’ahu Chapter Coordinator

Distinguished Honorable Mention • $750

“Awareness to Action Through Art”

Ashley Park

Bergen County Technical High School
Wyckoff, NJ

Ashley was inspired to become an environmental artist in the fourth grade after seeing a picture of a turtle strangled in plastic. Two of her paintings have even won awards in Bow Seat’s Ocean Awareness Contest! This experience motivated Ashley to teach other young people about the power of visual art in communicating environmental messages, so she designed an accordion coloring booklet that shows what happens to a plastic water bottle when it is recycled versus when it is thrown away, then used the booklet as part of her presentation to local elementary school students about plastic pollution and ways to be more ocean-conscious in our daily lives. Additionally, Ashley worked with her town’s environmental commission to plan the “Team Up to Tidy Up” community clean-up, including designing t-shirts for the event.

What the Judges Loved: Ashley is a true “artivist”—she was inspired by art, then created her own to share her environmental messages and rally others to make a difference in their community.

“I love the spirit and passion for using art to affect positive change.” —Guest Judge Doorae Shin, Surfrider Foundation O’ahu Chapter Coordinator

Distinguished Honorable Mention • $750

“Buy Better Boba”

The Harker Green Team: Anvi Banga, Sachi Bajaj, Alex Shing, Anthony Shing, and Natasha Yen

The Harker School
Cupertino, CA

As the number of boba (bubble tea) fundraisers hosted by Harker School clubs grows, so does the amount of plastic waste generated—specifically cups, lids, and straws. The Green Team launched their “Buy Better Boba” campaign to provide their peers with reusable alternatives to these single-use items and to instill a culture of conservation in their school community. The Green Team designed and sold 300 glass jars and, motivated to increase their impact, created a guide to hosting a “Buy Better Boba” fundraiser to share their idea with other clubs and schools. In addition, the team initiated discussions with local bubble tea vendors to encourage them to provide incentives for customers who brought in reuseable jars.

What the Judges Loved: The Green Team identified a problem that was unique to their school, created a simple and inexpensive solution, and developed strategies to make it scalable in their broader community.

“What a holistic solution!” —Guest Judge Doorae Shin, Surfrider Foundation O’ahu Chapter Coordinator

Honorable Mention • $500

“From 3 to 33: Everyone Can Make a Difference”

#BeatPlastic NLCS Jeju: Kyle Kyungwon Park, Jason Kyungjin Park, Wonyoung Park, Jiah Hyun, Hyunyu Kim, Yunji Hwang, Seungho Cha, Jaywon Yoon, Sihyeong Ha, Hyeyun Song, Sungwoo Choi, Siwoo Kim, Janice Yoo, Rin Heo, Taehyun Kim, Jiho Ha, Minseo Cha, Jaehyuk Chang, and Alex Hyungwoo Noh

North London Collegiate School Jeju
Busan, Republic of Korea

Plastic consumption has risen by 13% over the past three years on Jeju Island, and #BeatPlastic NLCS Jeju aimed to raise awareness of the magnitude of this environmental crisis through a picketing campaign on their school campus. Every morning for ten minutes, group members held posters depicting the destructive nature of plastic contamination on marine life as students, parents, and staff members reported to school. BeatPlastic NLCS Jeju supported their picketing campaign with educational lectures and assemblies for their classmates, an in-school activity to raise money for Greenpeace South Korea, and an informational website. The group’s efforts received additional attention through coverage by a local newspaper and Korean Central Television.

What the Judges Loved: On the first day of school, BeatPlastic NLCS Jeju began their campaign with three members. Over time, their actions inspired 30 additional students to join them and helped to establish their school’s first Environmental Studies Society.

Honorable Mention • $500

K.E.E.P. Club

Arin M., Neil S., Frieda K., Monetsis F., Adele D., Arsen V., Sammy L., Hattie L., Marco R., Charlotte T., Ella C., Maya W., Chris C., Julian S., Mateo A., Noah K., Wyatt O., Sarah M., John W., Rohan B., Nikka S., Peter R., Bruno A., Joie L., Hannah W., Mor P., Isobel P., Heidi K., Angi L., Alistair L., Babette H., Alec S., Calder S., and Lila D.

Brookline Driscoll School
Brookline, MA

Because marine debris impacts every human and living creature in and around their school, the K.E.E.P. Club wanted to raise awareness of the issue among multiple audiences. They educated students and faculty through presentations and worked to eliminate single-use plastics at school events. For example, they convinced the organizers of the spring fair to replace the plastic water bottles that they usually sold at the event with a water truck—attendees could buy compostable cups or fill up their own reuseable bottles for free. The K.E.E.P. Club reached their broader community by presenting to their school committee and town meeting members, writing articles to their local newspapers, and sending petitions to area businesses encouraging them to transition to eco-friendly materials.

What the Judges Loved: Despite meeting resistance initially, the K.E.E.P. Club eliminated plastic water bottles from a school event for the first time in its history. Their success inspired others to pledge to do the same in the future.

Gold Award • $5,000

“No Straw November”

Shelby O’Neil

San Benito High School, Grade 11
San Juan Bautista, CA

Shelby O’Neil, founder of Jr Ocean Guardians, took her passion for marine life one step further by launching a campaign to raise awareness of a pervasive form of marine litter: single-use plastic straws. She encouraged the California Coastal Commission to formally adopt a resolution declaring the month of November to be “No Straw November,” then leveraged her relationship with the Girl Scouts to spread the word globally about her campaign. Shelby challenged individuals to refuse plastic straws for an entire month while keeping a tally of how many straws were prevented from potentially ending up in the ocean. Shelby also contacted executives at national companies to encourage them to eliminate their use of plastic straws in their business operations; through her efforts, she persuaded Alaska Airlines and Dignity Health to do so, among others. By engaging individuals and corporations in No Straw November, Shelby is helping to eliminate tens of millions of plastic straws annually.

Silver Award • $2,500

“Arts4Oceans”

Ali Arce, Ruya Arce, Katherine Chou & Grace Wei

Hamilton High School, Grades 10-12
Chandler, AZ

Members of Hamilton Arts4Hearts engaged their peers and local organizations to create a “wave” of awareness about marine debris in their community. They partnered with ICAN, an afterschool program for at-risk youth, to teach younger students about ocean pollution and recycling. They worked with their local library to host an ocean advocacy art show that featured inspirational pieces from ICAN students, high schoolers, and artists from local studios. The centerpiece of the show was a shadow art sculpture that was created with trash collected by Hamilton Arts4Hearts’ classmates. The design of the sculpture represents how interconnected humans are to their environment: a giant wave looms over the city, but a child stands in the way in an effort to save our ocean and ourselves.

Bronze Award • $1,000

“Stop the Plastic Bottles. GO ENVION!”

Jae Whee Park

Seoul International School, Grade 11
Seoul, Republic of Korea

Going to school in a country where drinking from the tap is considered socially taboo despite having some of the world’s cleanest water, Jae Whee’s ultimate goal is to start a national movement to increase reuseable water bottle usage. He recognized, however, that lofty ambitions often require incremental successes. Therefore, he created the concept of Envion – a service mark that symbolizes the availability of free filtered or purified water – and set his sights on convincing the administrative staff of a local park under construction to become the first public facility in Korea to adopt it. Jae Whee’s presentation to the Magok Central Park staff included a thorough overview of the country’s plastic bottle waste problem and primary research on community members’ positive attitudes towards the Envion concept. He created a logo that helped officials visualize how they could promote their environmental commitment via signage, advertisements, and even a potential mobile app. Jae Whee’s presentation was enthusiastically received, and the park staff agreed to move forward with a feasibility study.

Bronze Award • $1,000

“New Ocean Blue”

Emily Adams, Elyssa Agresti, Petra Engstrom, Soren Engstrom, Yi Liu, Nico Mejia, Evan Mickelson, Grace Sandel, Sophie Schmitter, Sydney Schmitter & Julian Stern

Pacific Ridge School, Grades 9-11
Carlsbad, CA

New Ocean Blue members believe that teaching children to be conscious of their environmental impact at a young age creates conservation stewards for life. Therefore, they focused their efforts on teaching local elementary students about plastic pollution through a creative, interactive presentation that integrated stop-motion video and hands-on activities – the students’ favorite part was pretending to be an ocean gyre! In addition, New Ocean Blue conducts beach clean-ups and encourages their school to reduce single-use plastic in its daily operations.

Bronze Award • $1,000

“ECO Club”

Sophia Antone, Maddie Brown, Noah Casson, Anna Everett, Angela Hester & Dylan Kohl

Pensacola School of Liberal Arts, Grades 8 and 10
Pensacola, FL

To do something about the increasing amount of pollution they were finding on their local beaches, students from the Pensacola School of Liberal Arts created a new group: ECO Club SoLA. They hosted beach clean-ups and tabled at events, educating attendees about the marine debris problem in their coastal community through informational posters and sculptures they created from the trash collected at the clean-ups. They engaged community members in tackling the problem by distributing containers for them to collect debris, selling reusable shopping bags, and encouraging them to sign a petition requesting that the city council implement community recycling. ECO Club SoLA members forged effective partnerships with local businesses, who donated products and supplies.

Honorable Mention • $500

“One Less Plastic Bag”

Ben Ford

Upper Dublin High School, Grade 11
Dresher, PA

Ben had a specific goal in mind: to educate local community members about the harmful impacts of single-use plastic bags on our environment and encourage them to change their habits by selling reusable alternatives. Ben enlisted help from his school’s design class to create a logo, and secured sponsorships from six local corporations to fund the production of the reusable bags. He partnered with a local nonprofit organization, the Ambler Environmental Advisory Council (EAC), who connected him to community events where he educated attendees about plastic pollution and sold his bags. Ben donated the money raised to the Ambler EAC’s tree-planting program.

Honorable Mention • $500

“Marine Debris Program”

Tyler Hampton, Jaquan Pollard, Sydney Rush & Anisa Thomas

Dwight Morrow High School, Grade 11
Englewood, NJ

When Marine Debris Team members discovered that the subject of ocean pollution is not taught to their community’s youngest students despite the increasing amount of litter in their neighborhoods and waterways, they decided to fill the gap. They forged a partnership with their local library to host educational and entertaining workshops targeted for children ages 3-7. At each session, the Marine Debris Team gave a presentation on a specific topic – such as runoff and recycling – and supplemented it with a creative, hands-on activity to bring the lesson to life.

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Silver Award • $2,500

“The Ripple Effect”

Group Leaders: Clarissa Jacobo Hernandez, Canon Stringer, Dani Hilmen, Ty Cox

High Tech Middle North County
San Marcos, CA

Bronze Award • $1,000

“A Plastic Ocean”

Addie Farmer and Lainey Randall

King Middle School, Grade 7
Portland, ME

Bronze Award • $1,000

“Stop the World from Sailing into Dirty Waters”

Alekhya Pidugu

Little Rock Central High School, Grade 9
Little Rock, AR

Honorable Mention • $500

 “OnePiece”

Hannah Gennaro, Molly Roher, Elliot Gear

York High School , Grades 9-12
York, ME

Honorable Mention • $500

“Maurice the Marine Debris Whale”

Soo Bin Cho, Cheyenne Bridge, Sage Nelson, Lauren Richardson

Newport Beach Office of Natural Resources, Grades 11-12
Irvine/Newport, CA

Honorable Mention • $500

“NHSS Ocean Advocacy”

Ethan Roy, Alison Bell, Elizabeth Thibeault, Joshua Kuns, Charles McKelvey, Alexis Boucouvalas, Owen Duda, Hildaliza Gonzalez, Nathan Grant, Amelia Guarino, Narissa Hill, Olivia Kingston, Zachary Lernoux, Molly McInnis, Bailey Morin, Sam Petrillo, Evenor Pineda, Juliann Risteen, Alex Sanchez, Julia Vieira, Connor Woodward, Nathan Zalzal, and Andrea Nav

Nashua High School South, Grade 9
Nashua, NH