Sean Winn, founder of the Plastic Reduction Project spoke to us on May 7th. The Plastic Reduction Project was started in 2022 when they asked volunteers to contribute information about restaurants in Austin using single-use products. In 2023, the Project provided consultations to restaurants to help stop using plastic use. In 2024, they started working with schools that were using a lot of disposable plastic by using students to work from the inside. This method teaches the students life skills as well even if they don’t succeed in getting their schools to reduce the use of single-use plastic products. Sean told us that it costs approximately $200,000 at a school of 3000 students for disposable dinnerware. Another project they started was Westminster on to go orders with reusable plastics that can be washed and recirculated in a closed loop system. In central Ohio, they are supporting a reusable cup program. They are also looking to do a test project on West Campus at UT similar to what they are already doing at Westminster. Sean also wants to have the Project provide a platform of support for other activists around the country to get up and running. For more information go to www.plasticreductionproject.org.