Kimberly Cannon | The Valdosta Daily Times Jennifer Brown and Alyssa Ridenour of Students Against Violating the Environment at Valdosta State University held an Earth Day event Monday. Brown holds a reusable coffee cup and a reusable straw, which are items that help reduce waste. 

VALDOSTA — Everyone has the same home: Earth. 

The Valdosta State University members of Students Against Violating the Environment want to help protect this place everyone calls home. 

SAVE held an event on the steps outside of the VSU Student Union this week in recognition of Earth Day. The group sold reusable shopping bags and cookies. 

SAVE President Alyssa Ridenour, 18, said the environmental activist group’s goal was raising awareness, letting people know how they can change their lifestyles for the better of the Earth, such as by recycling. 

“Of the things we can recycle, a vast majority is not recycled, and that’s a problem,” she said. 

Ridenour said one person making environmentally friendly decisions makes a difference. She explained how someone who buys Starbucks everyday could reduce a significant amount of garbage by purchasing a reusable cup from Starbucks. 

Jennifer Brown, a former SAVE president, advised using not only reusable coffee cups but also reusable straws and water bottles. 

“You don’t have to give up going to Starbucks or using straws,” Brown said. 

Ridenour encouraged shifting the American mentality from a focus on convenience to a focus on longevity. 

“We should revolve, as a culture, more around durability and sustainability,” she said. 

Brown said the Earth Day theme for 2018 was ending plastic pollution. 

“Plastic is a serious issue that not many people realize,” Brown said. 

Taking up 40 percent of the world’s ocean surfaces, billions of pounds of plastic can be found in the ocean, according to the Center for Biological Diversity. 

Brown said the danger of microplastics can be found in beauty products, such as glitter, and clothing. 

Microplastic is plastic debris less than five millimeters in length, according to the National Ocean Service. 

Brown said microbeads, a type of microplastic, are added to some cleansers, and so then microplastic makes its way into water and is harmful to marine life. 

President Barack Obama signed the Microbead-Free Waters Act of 2015, a bill that banned rinse-off cosmetics that contain intentionally added plastic microbeads beginning Jan. 1 and banned manufacturing of those cosmetics beginning July 1, 2017. 

Microplastics are also found in synthetic fibers, such as clothing made from polyester, Brown said. She said when these polyester items are washed, microplastics end up in the water. 

For the prevention of such pollution, Brown said Earth Day should just be the beginning of making changes and taking part in environmental activism. 

Kimberly Cannon is a Reporter with The Valdosta Daily Times. Her extension is 1376.