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Rethinking Recycling: Mercer County Students Lead Climate Action with Sunrise Movement

Updated: Aug 19

The Mercer County chapter of the Sunrise Movement, a political advocacy organization focused on climate change, was started in 2023 by West Windsor high school junior Sugirtha Arunagiri. Its members include students from across the county. Their efforts focus on increasing community awareness of the effects of climate change. The chapter’s current campaign is centered around educating residents on the specificities of West Windsor and Plainsboro’s recycling systems.  Sadly, a majority of the items placed into residents’ recycling bins end up in landfills due to contamination and/or wrongful placement in recycling. Both townships currently recycle only No. 1 (PETE) and No. 2 (HDPE) plastics, which many residents are unaware of.

The Sunrise Movement is a national 501c(3) non-profit political advocacy organization. It was founded in 2015 by Varshini Prakash and Sara Blazevic to help organize advocacy for divestment from fossil fuels and environmentally friendly policies. They focus on fighting for climate justice and specifically advocate for “Green New Deal” legislation: mandating a reduction in the use of fossil fuels, especially across transportation and production industries; ensuring the availability of affordable housing and adequate policy protection for communities adversely affected by natural disasters exacerbated by climate change; and championing racial and economic justice in environmental policy. 


The organization gained prominence in 2018 when 250 members, along with Representative-elect Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, staged a sit-in at Representative Nancy Pelosi's office. This protest led to the introduction of the "Green New Deal" resolution by Ocasio-Cortez and Senator Edward Markey in 2019. And in 2023 the Sunrise Dallas chapter's year-long advocacy work resulted in free public transportation on the city’s DART train system for all K-12 students.

Members of the Mercer County NJ Chapter of Sunrise Movement from L to R: Shalya V., Lakshmi P., Sugirtha A., Sahana V., Rhea B.

As the climate crisis worsens, our communities become more heavily impacted by worsening natural disasters, rapidly rising temperatures, inadequate public infrastructure to keep pace with environmental changes, and a lack of regulation to combat the exorbitant amounts of greenhouse gasses being emitted into the Earth’s atmosphere.  


In order to establish connections in the community, Sunrise Mercer County held their first-ever Community Fest on June 8th, 2024. It was attended by people of all ages and had a variety of activities centered around environmental education: the causes and effects of climate change and global warming, what current policies aiming to mitigate climate change lack, and necessary actions to be taken in the future, both by governments and civilians, to address these issues within their own communities. The event featured a station to make crafts out of recycled/reusable materials, educating residents on the versatility of items that would normally end up in the trash; Jeopardy and Kahoot games to address common misconceptions about climate change; and a speech by guest speaker Stacey Fox, founder and executive director of the Mercer County Defense League, an organization dedicated to addressing land preservation, updated stormwater runoff regulation, and preventing overdevelopment within our local community.


Recently, Sunrise Mercer County presented for West Windsor’s Environmental Commission, introducing the organization and chapter along with their future plans. The members of the commission applauded them for their efforts in starting the chapter and provided valuable insight into how their recycling campaign could be made more effective through increased personal interaction with residents. They will be hosting a table at West Windsor’s upcoming Community Day on Saturday, September 21st, and hope to see you there!


To learn more about the national organization, visit their website: https://www.sunrisemovement.org/


To learn more about Sunrise Mercer County, find them on Instagram: @sunrisemovement.mercer or email them at sunrisemovement.mercer@gmail.com


For questions about specific items that can/can not be recycled in West Windsor, consult the mini-search engine on the Township Recycling webpage: https://westwindsornj.org/departments/recycling


Special thanks to Sugi Arunagiri for contributing to this story.


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