From the beginning of my project, I knew that I wanted to place a stand of reusable t-shirt eco-bags in the lobby of my apartment for my neighbors to access easily. I realized that one of the main limitations stopping people from saying no to plastic bags at the store was that they were forgetting their reusable alternatives in their apartments. By the time most people (including myself) remember, we are in the lobby. Given how busy everyones lives are it is much easier to just continue on to the store rather than turn around, wait for the elevator, unlock your door, take off your shoes, find the bag, and begin again. Instead, by creating a stand to be shared by all residents, it makes sure that a reusable bag is very easy to use and access. Since they are "Boomerang Bags", I ask people to return them when they are done shopping. If they need washing all you have to do is put the bag in the bottom basket and I will wash them. It really is that easy!! I am very happy to report that to date the stand has been extremely successful as shown through pictures and letters sent with people using them!

I was an invited panelist for YIS's 2019 "Climate Reality" Discussion. I gave a presentation on plastic in Japan which culminated with my "Bai Bai Plastic Bags" initiative.

In the winter of 2019, I taught almost 50 Grade 5 students about plastic pollution and what they can do to limit plastic. After my presentation, students got to work upcycling t-shirts into eco-bags! The class ended with a quiz session where they could win a reusable bag. On the way out, each student was challenged to come up with one way they were going to reduce their plastic usage over winter break. The idea was a habit is thought to take 21 days to create and winter break is 21 days, so hopefully students return with an environmentally-friendly habit :)