Defend Our Future is a youth-led environmental advocacy program operating on college and university campuses across the United States. Their mission: train, empower, and mobilize young people to be the most effective generation of climate and ocean advocates in history.
Why youth advocacy matters for ocean plastic
Single-use plastic is, at heart, a generational problem. The plastic produced today will outlive the people who produce it — by centuries. The young people inheriting that plastic are uniquely positioned to demand structural change, to refuse single-use products, and to vote for the policies that will shape how plastic is regulated for decades to come.
How Defend Our Future supported For A Strawless Ocean
- Campus outreach. Brought the #StopSucking pledge to college campuses across the country.
- Local policy advocacy. Trained student advocates to lobby for plastic-straw ordinances in their college towns.
- SXSW 2017. Co-presented at the festival's environmental programming, helping put the campaign on the national stage.
- Volunteer recruitment. Drew in students who became long-term ocean conservation volunteers and translators for the Global Team.
Get involved
Defend Our Future welcomes student volunteers and campus organizers. Their work spans climate, ocean health, energy, and environmental-justice issues.