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CALPIRG students at Santa Cruz are working hard to protect our oceans. Primarily, students are working to ban plastic bags in the city of Santa Cruz. Californians use 12 billion plastic bags every single year, and less than 5% of those bags are ever recycled. Plastic bags are deadly for the health of aquatic life, and the ocean itself. Plastic particles can be ingested by fish, birds, whales and a host of other species, which can poison animals and cause them to choke and die. Plastic bags are especially harmful to sea turtles, as the turtles mistake them for jellyfish (their food of choice). To demonstrate just how polluted our beaches really are, students working on the Oceans campaign organized a really fun event. On a Saturday, students went out to a few local beaches and collected trash items that had been left behind. The students also grabbed some sand and shells to simulate a real beach! Then, they created a display showing the appalling amount and variety of trash items that people leave right on our beautiful beaches. As UCSC students walked by, CALPIRG chapter students were there to ask them to help with this problem by signing a petition to protect our beaches and ban plastic bags in the city of Santa Cruz. Make sure you sign a petition to help us protect the natural beauty of California beaches and the majestic wildlife that calls it home winter quarter if you didn’t have the chance in the fall!