LA Green Teen
What started as climate education at an underserved LA high school in 2019 evolved into a campaign for clean water.
Our efforts, alongside the students at Los Angeles High School, led to the passage of AB 2638, ensuring schools provide fresh drinking water for students.
The Problem
LA Green Teen is a program to teach environmental sustainability to LA High School students using social media as the driver for change.
While working with students to reduce plastic use in 2019, we discovered that the students were encouraged to purchase plastic water bottles, rather than use school water fountains. This is because old water fountains were unsafe and contaminated with arsenic and lead.
Our Solution
We worked with local representatives to prepare and present AB 2638 in 2022, which provided clean, filtered water in all public and charter schools for students throughout California.
To achieve this, we raised awareness on social media and students shared stories of their contaminated water. BuzzFeed covered their story and we used this exposure to gain the attention of policymakers. Our collective efforts led to the passage of AB 2638, ensuring CA/LAUSD schools provide clean drinking water.
Our Impact
We are proud to have helped LAUSD schools acquire water filtration systems, giving students the choice to drink 100% clean water using their own reusable, non-plastic bottles.
Take Action
Does your local school lack access to clean drinking water? Talk to your administrators about lack of access to clean water, and what can be done to install filtered drinking stations.
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