Saratoga High School senior spearheads Microplastic Awareness Day
SAN JOSE – Santa Clara County Supervisor Joe Simitian invites the public to participate in an online webinar in order to raise awareness about microplastics during Microplastic Awareness Month. The event, organized by Urmila Vudali, a Saratoga High School Senior, student leader of the Saratoga Youth Climate Action Team, and District Five Youth Task Force appointee, seeks to educate and engage residents about the increasing threat microplastics pose to environmental and human health.
Date: Monday, September 14
Time: 4:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Location: Registration is closed
Concurrently, Santa Clara County has adopted a proclamation declaring September 14th as Microplastics Awareness Day.
“I had been aware of the plastics issue for a while, but I was oblivious to how much it has infiltrated every aspect of our lives,” said Saratoga Senior Urmila Vudali. We can find traces of plastics in toxins in our own bodies, and they can emerge from anything from car tires to our laundry. I wanted to do something to make people more aware of the issue and conscious of their choices. I am incredibly excited to have researchers and experts on the microplastic problem join us in a webinar to spread awareness for this growing issue and its impacts.”
“It’s been so gratifying to see an engaged young activist like Urmila bringing awareness to this important topic,” said County Supervisor Joe Simitian. As the District Five Youth Task Force appointee, she has gone above and beyond organizing this webinar. Participants will get to hear from scientists and researchers directly studying the impact of microplastics in their respective fields.”
Speakers:
- Dr. Scott Coffin - Environmental Scientist and Researcher with the State Water Resources Control Board;
- Holly Wyer - Program Manager for the Ocean Protection Council and leads the Marine Pollution Program;
- Grace Lee - Waste Prevention Program Associate with the Clean Water Action Coalition and project lead for the Unpacking Alameda Initiative; and,
- Dr. Rebecca Sutton - Senior Scientist at the San Francisco Estuary Institute and a senior member of the Regional Monitoring Program for Water Quality in San Francisco Bay (RMP).