“I’m an environmentalist, how hard can this be?” I thought to myself when I tried to reduce my plastic waste. I managed to fail this resolution by the end of the first day of Plastic Free July. We use too much plastic. Packaging waste in the United States makes up
This week I spoke at the Manatee County Commission meeting on behalf of the Florida Conservation Voters, advocating for a resolution to seek federal designation for portions of the Little Manatee River as a Wild and Scenic River. This is an exciting and prestigious opportunity, as less than ¼ of
I’m getting married! EEEK! We decided on forever, but now comes the planning. Our wedding will be a small, private event, but I still have a few considerations when planning – how to honor our grandparents, finding the perfect tree to say “I do” under, and how to minimize single-use
Following studies, surveys, meetings, and public comment periods, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection has released a Draft Beneficiary Mitigation Plan regarding the Volkswagen Settlement. FDEP, the administer of these funds, will be gathering additional public comments through August 16, 2019. We invite you to submit additional public comments to demand clean,
EDIT: Beach Clean-Up Rescheduled to August 3, 2019 If you’ve been to the beach recently, you’ve probably seen trash in the sand. Whether it’s discarded cigarette butts, abandoned beach toys, or random items that floated in with the tide, plastics on the beach is now a common sight. We are
We have 11 years to act on the climate crisis. While we wait for our elected officials to pass sensible and urgent laws, the next generation is standing up. On July 12th-14th, This Is Zero Hour hosted their Youth Climate Summit in Miami, Florida. Youth from across the United States
On July 9, we asked Florida Conservation Voters members to submit public comments to the FDEP Blue-Green Algae Task Force. Over six short days, we were able to gather over 1,050 signatures! As we excitedly watched the number of messages sent climb and climb, we witnessed just how committed our
This month is Plastic Free July, and my FCVoters team and I are personally challenging ourselves to cut our single-use plastic consumption. Breaking bad habits starts with seeing the impact it has on our lives, and nothing motivates me more than seeing discarded plastic bottles and other waste in our
Last summer was an urgent wake-up call to Floridians across the state who watched in horror as toxic blue-green algae choked our waterways and killed our wildlife. No one who saw (or smelled) this disaster will ever forget the images of thick, noxious “guacamole” waters lapping up on our shores.