{"product_id":"taking-on-the-plastics-crisis-isbn-9780593223338","title":"Taking on the Plastics Crisis","description":"\u003cb\u003e\"Taking on the Plastics Crisis delivers straightforward advise for getting involved in the global movement to eliminate single-use plastics.\" -- \u003ci\u003eBooklist\u003c\/i\u003e, Starred Review\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Brief yet inspirational, this story will galvanize youth to use their voices for change.\"--Kirkus Reviews\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Taking on the Plastics Crisis is a sobering and inspiring read by a brilliant young change maker. Now is the time for all of us to come together to solve the plastic pollution crisis.\"--Ed Begley Jr. (actor and environmental activist)\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn this personal, moving essay, youth activist Hannah Testa shares with readers how she led a grassroots political campaign to successfully pass state legislation limiting single-use plastics and how she influenced global businesses to adopt more sustainable practices. Through her personal journey, readers can learn how they, too, can follow in Hannah's footsteps and lower their carbon footprint by simply refusing single-use plastics.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ePocket Change Collective is a series of small books with big ideas from today's leading activists and artists. In this installment, youth activist Hannah Testa, the founder of Hannah4Change, chronicles both her personal and political mission to save the Earth's oceans by limiting single-use plastic products.Hannah Testa is a sustainability advocate, international speaker, and founder of Hannah4Change, an organization dedicated to fighting issues that harm the planet.  \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eShe has partnered with politicians to successfully approve legislation to protect the Earth's oceans by limiting single-use plastics like straws, bags, and utensils.  Most notably, she has worked as part of a global coalition of NGOs to influence Starbucks to develop a more sustainable coffee cup, and she partnered with Kashi to co-create healthy, organic, non-GMO cereals and snacks for kids.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eShe has been featured in \u003ci\u003eParade\u003c\/i\u003e magazine, \u003ci\u003eTeen Vogue\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eGoop, USA Today\u003c\/i\u003e, and has appeared on CNN and \u003ci\u003eGood Morning America. \u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAshley Lukashevsky is an illustrator and visual artist born and raised in Honolulu, Hawaii, currently based in Los Angeles. Ashley uses illustration and art as tools to strengthen social movements against systemic racism, sexism, and anti-immigrant policy. She aims to tear down these systems of oppression through first envisioning and drawing a world without them. Her clients include Refinery29, Broadly, \u003ci\u003eThe Washington Post\u003c\/i\u003e, Planned Parenthood, Girls Who Code, \u003ci\u003eGOOD\u003c\/i\u003e magazine, \u003ci\u003eBrooklyn\u003c\/i\u003e magazine, ACLU, Red Bull, Snapchat, Air Jordan, and Logo TV. Ashley is also the illustrator of the best-selling \u003ci\u003eAntiracist Baby\u003c\/i\u003e, by Ibram X. Kendi.\u003cb\u003eFebruary 15, 2018:\u003c\/b\u003e It might seem like an ordinary, forgettable date, but in the state of Georgia, it was Plastic Pollution Awareness Day—a day I helped create with a state senator when I was fourteen.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e I remember that day like it was yesterday. I stood inside the Georgia State Capitol, holding a rolled-up paper in my clammy hands. My heart was fluttering. My fingers trembled with fear. I was about to deliver a speech to fifty-six state senators. But first I had to wait for the speaker—an adult—at the podium to finish hers.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFrom the side of the stage, I gazed out at the crowd: No one seemed to be paying any attention to the person giving her speech. My chest tightened. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e I had been working toward this moment for a year—to be on this very stage to raise awareness about the growing plastics crisis. And all I could think was how no one would listen to my speech either, especially because I was just a teenager.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Over the course of 2017, I started to see the plastics industry for what it really was: powerful corporations and lobbyists, people paid by companies to influence politicians. And the last thing they wanted was for a speech like mine to be heard. In fact, the plastics industry came out in full force to stop this event from happening, and when I really think about it, their motives can be summed up with one word: fear.     \u003cbr\u003e         \u003cbr\u003e Fear that I might shine a light on the realities of single-use plastics and their negative impact on the environment, animal welfare, and our health. Fear that the industry would lose money, as it saw a decline in the use of plastic. Fear that people like me were using their voices. But any attempts to stop me only made me want to speak louder. So, I stood my ground.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e But as I stood in the capitol building, ready to deliver that speech, I suddenly started to lose confidence in myself. If the senators weren’t listening to an adult, why would they listen to me?\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Each passing minute felt longer than the next. As the woman at the podium spoke her last words into the microphone, the state senators hardly seemed to notice. No one clapped. \u003ci\u003eTough crowd\u003c\/i\u003e, I thought. I took a deep breath. It was my turn. I felt my legs quiver as I stepped up to the podium and lowered the microphone. I looked out at the room, scattered with senators milling about, talking among themselves, paying little attention to me. I scanned the audience and found my mom and brother smiling at me. Beside me stood my dad, and my friend and mentor, John R. Seydel, a director with the city of Atlanta. On my other side was Senator Nan Orrock, the politician I worked with to create this historic day. For a brief moment, I felt at ease, having all these people with me for support.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e I took another deep breath to soak in this moment: There I was, a high-school freshman who wasn’t even of voting age, and yet I was about to deliver a speech to the decision makers in my home state of Georgia. Forget “pinch me” moments—this was make-or-break.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eI opened my mouth and began my speech. Suddenly, it was as if every senator simultaneously realized that there was a teenager at the mic. Silence blanketed the room and every eye was on me. Everyone was listening to me. To my voice.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFor the next few minutes, I spoke about the growing crisis before us. I spoke about how plastic is washing up on our shores by the ton—flooding our oceans and choking our animal and marine life. And how microplastics are seeping into our bodies through water bottles and other single-use plastics. And how, by 2050, plastic production is projected to quadruple, further adding to carbon dioxide emissions that contribute to climate change—unless we act \u003ci\u003enow\u003c\/i\u003e.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“This is our moment. This is our movement. This is our mission,” I said, wrapping up my speech. I concluded it with a final question: “Are you with us?”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eMy speech was met with an overwhelming round of applause.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFrom that moment—that unforgettable February day—I recognized firsthand that young people have voices, and we can be heard. I realized then and there that political movements start with a decision to use our voices. And for me, it started with the decision to take on the plastics crisis.","brand":"Penguin Workshop","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46300369322213,"sku":"NP9780593223338","price":9.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1842\/7735\/files\/9780593223338.jpg?v=1767737741","url":"https:\/\/k12savings.com\/products\/taking-on-the-plastics-crisis-isbn-9780593223338","provider":"K12savings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}