CUMMING, Ga. – “Hi, I’m Hannah Testa and I’m on the beautiful beaches of Bermuda and I went on a little stroll and was able to make my own plastic soup,” Hannah Testa, an environmental activist, said in video when she was 11.
Nearly three years ago Testa found her calling to help the environment.
“After I watched the documentary called Plastic Paradise that’s what really opened me and my family’s eyes to making that shift,” Testa said. “We stopped using single use plastic products like plastic bags and straws and cups.”
Testa made changes with her family then shared her cause with schools and through social media.
“If want to do anything else in the future we’ve got to start making the public aware of the issue in the first place,” Testa said.
Winning the Prudential Spirit of Community Award last year she connected with Georgia Senator Michael Williams.
Together they were able to come up with the first ever Plastic Pollution Awareness Day.
“It’s just a giant exhibit about plastic pollution so that other people that come through they can see and stop by and learn a little bit about plastic pollution,” Testa said.
The goal is to prevent harm from happening to wildlife. Norwegian scientists recently found about 30 plastic bags in the stomach of a goose-beaked whale.
Testa faced similar findings in Bermuda.
“We just did some sampling on the beach and found so much plastic on it, and so we felt like we should make a video and share this with others because unfortunately we couldn’t take that all back home with us,” Testa said.
Testa will be at the state capital Wednesday for the proclamation. You can do your part by picking up trash you see along nearby beaches and cutting down the plastic you use.
