Plastic Free July debuts NextGen Fellowship
Plastic Free July returns next month, celebrating its 15th year with a new Youth Fellowship programme aimed at ‘bringing together young change-makers’ from across 20 countries, with a focus on the Asia Pacific region for its inaugural edition.
The Plastic Free NextGen Fellowship will harness the passion and energy of young people who are actively involved in community engagement and environmental empowerment, as they encourage others to not only join them in their pledge to choose one single-use plastic item to avoid, but to use their voices to make a difference.
Rebecca Prince-Ruiz, founder and CEO of Plastic Free Foundation, says the annual campaign continues to empower millions of people globally to ‘take simple, meaningful steps to reduce plastic waste’.
“With plastic leakage to the environment predicted to grow 50% by 2040, the need for action has never been more urgent. Every year, billions of single-use items are thrown away — ending up in landfill, on our streets, in our oceans. We can no longer afford to be a throwaway society. The Plastic Free Pledge is a powerful act that anyone, anywhere can take. It’s a step towards a cleaner, safer planet for all of us — and a future we can be proud to pass on. Through our NextGen Youth Fellowship, we’re investing in young leaders with the passion and courage to drive this movement forward. Because solving the plastic crisis isn’t just our responsibility — it’s our legacy.”
Inheriting a crisis
The idea of a fellowship was sparked by a young volunteer intern at the Foundation, Charlotte, who was living in Fiji and searching for a way to ensure that young people’s voices weren’t just heard, but that they felt empowered to lead. “Young people are inheriting this crisis — and we are committed to building a cleaner world,” she comments. “The NextGen Fellowship is about amplifying the voices of youth who are already creating change and helping them connect, grow and inspire others to act.”
The Foundation says the the NextGen Fellowship ‘aims to build capacity in the next generation of leaders working to reduce plastic waste’ with fellows meeting regularly to share ideas, increase awareness and engage local communities in the Plastic Free July campaign. Over the coming years, the programme will expand globally, forming a widespread network of young plastic-free leaders.
“We see a great future for this Fellowship, after being inundated with applicants from the region as well as around the world. Young people want to be heard and they want change,” adds Prince-Ruiz.
By Rosie Greenaway, editor