March 14, 2019
By Marie Schlagel, Program Coordinator
When did you start gaining awareness about environmental issues? When did you start to understand that climate change is a real threat happening right now? For Carrington Fasteln, senior at Bend High School, this came last October during her Environmental Systems and Society class.
After class let out, Carrington would walk through Bend High’s hallways and notice things she never did before. Passing by classmates carried the usual school supplies and more often than not single-use plastic cups. There was at least one Dutch Bros. cup in every single one of her classes, she counted. If these cups weren’t in students’ hands, they were overflowing in trash and recycling cans.
“I just got overwhelmed by the seas of all these coffee cups,” she said, haunted by photos of plastic islands and pollution. Even with company efforts to create biodegradable and recyclable one-use cups, Carrington pointed out those efforts are ineffective because Bend does not yet have the facilities to properly recycle those materials.
So, Carrington decided to do something about it: She started talking to people and those people started talking to people. Inspired by her teacher Mr. Paul Hutter, Carrington started BYOC Bend, a grassroots campaign to encourage everyone in Bend to bring their own cups for their daily coffee needs.
The campaign focuses on art and beauty in order to create a vibrant movement that would engage everybody, not just already involved environmentalists. To do that, Carrington enlisted the help of classmates and artists Dakota Callicot and Angela Brennan. Utilizing their skills, they created bright, eye-catching images to bolster BYOC Bend’s message.
That message has since reached the Juniper Group of the Oregon Sierra Club who now sponsor BYOC Bend. As the movement gains momentum, BYOC Bend’s next course of action is to gather support from local Bend businesses and spread the word. BYOC Bend’s ultimate goal is eventually eliminating the use of single-use plastic cups in Bend altogether (and then the state, Carrington hinted).
More than that, though, Carrington hopes this campaign shows people how they too can make small but powerful change within their own communities. Her advice to other young activists?
“Put it out there what you want to do and change. Everything else will fall into place,” Carrington insisted. She recalled the support she received from community members and friends, even ones who aren’t as environmentally aware. “Once you say you’re doing something, people will come out to help. Make it as much as a community project as much as you can. Don’t worry about the end project. Just get it started and focus on the community aspect. Don’t keep it to yourself.”
Likewise, don’t keep this story to yourself. Spread the message! Tell family and friends to start bringing their own cups. And if there’s a change you want to see in the world, start talking to your community and make that change happen.
