Chipping away at our plastic habit, one water bottle at a time.

Written By Peter Allan

By Patricia Lane & Ziya Merchant

These in-their-own-words pieces are told to Patricia Lane and co-edited with input from the interviewee for the purpose of brevity.

Ziya Merchant’s multi-school campaign is using plastic water bottles to raise awareness about climate justice.

Inspired by Mireta Strandberg-Salmon's campaigns to end bottled water sales at her own high school and at Simon Fraser University, 17-year-old Ziya founded Phasing Out Plastic Bottles (POPB), which in 2022-23 had 15-plus chapters in schools across British Columbia’s Lower Mainland and the United States. This year, POPB has interest from schools in other parts of the U.S. and throughout Canada.

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Ziya Merchant was a recipient of the 2022 Youth Climate Activism Award.
View her video entry

Peter Allan
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