Female Philanthropist Paves Way For More Sustainable Living With Single-Use Plastics Ban In City Of Malibu

LOS ANGELES, March 19, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Sheila Morovati, founder and president of the non-profit Crayon Collection, is changing the way society looks at sustainability, one habit at a time.

Morovati was stunned to discover how society's habitual behaviors lead to massive environmental waste. With a degree in sociology from UCLA, Morovati was fascinated by the realization that simple societal norms - like receiving plastic straws with drinks at restaurants - create huge amounts of waste that suffocate landfills and waterways.

This discovery, and the need to fight these societal habits, led to the creation of Crayon Collection, a nonprofit dedicated to sustainability, and a grassroots social movement to end use of single-use plastics in the City of Malibu.

Crayon Collection began after Morovati learned that restaurants throw away 150 million crayons per year, which end up in landfills and never decompose. Morovati created a system where restaurants could donate clean, reusable crayons to local schools in need of art supplies, simultaneously helping save the environment and disrupting the art education drought affecting underfunded schools nationwide.

Continuing her fight against unnecessary waste, Morovati contacted the City of Malibu in March 2017 upon learning that 500,000,000 plastic straws are discarded each day in the U.S. Later that year, Andrea Arria-Devoe, sustainability editor at GOOP and executive producer of the documentary STRAWS, contacted Sheila to co-host a screening of the film. In order to change the view of single-use plastics, Morovati decided to screen the film for the City of Malibu. 

After the screening, it was clear that a city-wide ban must be implemented to reduce the waste. The ban, which included plastic straws, stirrers, and cutlery, passed unanimously, and takes effect June 1, 2018.

One takeaway from Morovati's efforts is that anyone can create change and live sustainably. Making a difference is easier than it seems: "Most people have no idea they are impacting the environment in a negative way by simply dining out or getting food to-go," Morovati said. "My goal is to inform everyone that they can make a difference by refusing single-use plastics."

To interview Morovati, please contact [email protected].

Media Contact:
Danielle Townsley
Ballantines PR
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SOURCE Sheila Morovati