Help youth activists attend last Global Plastics Treaty INC5

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Hello – We are Ashton (13) and Zara (15), two siblings who started Hidden Plastic in 2020 by making short, informative videos about the dangers of microplastics. The videos are designed to be entertaining, as well as offering research-based facts and proposing actions that address the systemic roots of the plastic problem.

We recently attended the Global Plastics Treaty INC-4 in Ottawa, Canada, despite a restriction that barred under-18 youth from attending this UNEP-hosted event. Ashton even had the distinction of being the youngest delegate out of 2,500 attendees!

This coming November, the final round of negotiations for this important treaty to end plastic pollution (INC-5) will be held in Busan, S. Korea. We believe our youth voices need to be included more than ever in this historic negotiation, which will impact our generation for many decades to come.

We are asking for donations to help Hidden Plastic travel to S. Korea November 25th-December 1st, 2024 to continue our efforts connecting solutions with the many problems that plastic pollution has created for our planet! These funds will go solely towards travel, food and hotel costs over the week.

HOW WE ‘MADE A DIFFERENCE’ AT INC-4 Ottawa in April:

While at INC-4 in Ottawa, we were able to meet many of the key decision-makers and influencers who are working to bring an end to plastic pollution. We enjoy making connections between problems and solutions, and being at a global event of this scale gives a great opportunity to have high impact. Here are just a few of the connections we made to help accelerate the transition to a 'plastic pollution-free’ world:

WE MET WITH UN DELEGATIONS:

In our 40-minute meeting with the UK government’s delegation we helped:

connect 16-year-old Aeshnina Aqilani from Indonesia, by handing them her report about UK plastic waste that is being shipped to her country;
connect Dejea Lyons from the Cayman Islands with the UK govt to help support her country pass a single-use plastic ban;
raise awareness that as much as 60% of the UK’s waste is still being exported each year. (They’re checking those facts for us.)

WE MET WITH COALITIONS:

When we met with the Scientist Coalition and attended an alternative packaging side-event we:

got their support for our video campaigns to supply us with data & reports on the dangers of plastic to human health;
made a link with seaweed packaging to the university researchers doing studies on viable alternatives to single-use plastic;
and gave them hope in our generation!

We also helped connect Delta Airlines, Head of Sustainability with the Business Coalition for a Global Plastics Treaty.

WE MET WITH CORPORATE LEADERS:

In our 20-minute meeting with PepsiCo's Sustainability Head, Carolyn Panzarella, we emphasized the need for businesses to help cleanup plastic pollution that they were instrumental in creating, through their single-use packaging, by:

introducing her to the work of The Ocean CleanUp that we focused on during out 2-year PepsiCo Interceptor Challenge campaign;
introducing another project in the Maldives that could help clean up the worst microplastic-polluted waters in the world.

Carolyn promised to help put us in touch with the right people at PepsiCo Foundation to continue the dialogue.

WE MET OTHER NGOs:

During side events, we had the chance to meet many people doing excellent work:

The Ocean Legacy Foundation, is doing groundbreaking work with turning reclaimed ocean plastic into a reusable polymer format. We are planning work with them by using one of our contacts to connect them with LEGO;
We connected ‘The Tap’ artist Benjamin Von Wong with Notpla, so he can use their innovative seaweed packaging in his art, to help highlight solutions using his high profile ‘artivism’. (Our interview with Ben coming soon!)

Please visit HiddenPlastic.org to learn more about the UN Global Plastics Treaty, and how we have been able to make our voices heard at both INC-2 in Paris last year and even more in 7 days at INC-4 in Ottawa this April.

Thank you in advance for helping us attend this critical event to end plastic pollution – which will hopefully have a serious impact in our lifetime on improving biodiversity and alleviating some of the worst effects of climate change!

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