Meet Our Founders
Click on the founders names to learn more about them.
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The Plastic Free Mermaids organization spreads awareness about plastic pollution through education, outreaches, cleanups, political and art advocacy. We mentor how to live a plastic free lifestyle and illustrate how plastic affects our environment and health.
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5 PILLARS
Activism
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Art
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Community Pride
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Our story |
The Plastic Free Mermaids was founded in 2014 by Keyla and Kimberly Correia at ages 15 and 13. Keyla and Kimberly's journey began in middle school when they attended a marine science magnet school and were exposed and participated in conservation projects ranging from mangrove/sea oat restoration, ROVs, and shark research through shark tagging.
In high school, one of their teachers introduced them to the Youth Ocean Conservation Summit (YOCS) where the seed was planted for starting their own conservation project to aid the environment. They met with scientists, other like-minded peers, conservationists working in legislation and in the arts. In 2014 their magnet coordinator presented to them an opportunity to go to the Plastic Ocean Pollution Solution Summit (POPS) in California where they were able to learn everything about plastic pollution nationally and internationally. After the summit the sister's passions for conservation were narrowed down to plastic pollution due to the extensive topics that plastic affects: health, environment, animals, and the way that it is integrated into society. They realized that within their community and in the high school they were attending people never talked about the full extent of what plastic is, the elimination and solutions to it. People normalized seeing plastic within the environment. The momentum to. make a difference was so powerful that the Plastic Free Mermaids organization was created. |