How a 10-year-old Canadian girl is fighting to eliminate grocery store produce stickers
Share
She may have only been on this Earth for about a decade, but Maya Thiru is already making it her mission to care for the environment.
To further tackle single-use plastic waste, 10-year-old Thiru is leading an initiative, ‘Maya’s Plastic Pollution Campaign’ supported by Friends of the Earth, a Canadian environmental advocacy organization, which aims to build awareness of the harm of plastic stickers on fruits and vegetables in grocery stores.
“Maya is part of the upcoming generation of environmental activists dedicated to protecting people and the planet,” said Beatrice Olivastri, CEO of Friends of the Earth Canada, in a press release. “All of us here at Friends of the Earth Canada are inspired and excited to be working with such a bright and dynamic young woman.”
As of December 2022, the Single-Use Plastics Prohibition Regulations (SUPPR) came into effect, meaning single-use checkout bags, cutlery, foodservice ware, stir sticks, and straws, as defined in the regulations, are no longer allowed in grocery stores and other establishments.
While this regulation is seen as a big win in the effort to reduce Canada’s plastic waste, Thiru’s campaign is taking it one step further.
After visiting the grocery store with her mother, Thiru was shocked that every produce item - from avocados to apples - had a little plastic sticker on it.
They’re called price look-up codes (PLUs) and they are for for inventory and check-out purposes, but their impact on the climate can be consequential.
“They are just little bits of plastic but they are on everything and cause lots of problems for the environment,” Thiru said in a press release.
In video for her campaign, Thiru urges people to make sure those stickers end up in the garbage, so as to not contaminate the compost. If they do end up in the compost, the PLUs will end up at a municipal composting facility where sorting those tiny stickers takes time and costs money to do.
Maya’s Plastic Pollution Campaign also aims to get the attention of the Canadian government, to spark real change.
“During the month of March, we encourage everyone to collect their PLU stickers onto our sticker sheet and at the end of April to give them to the parliament,” Thiru says in the video. "The goal of this campaign is to bring awareness to PLU stickers and to gain the support of our minister of Environment and Climate Change, Steven Guilbeault.”
PLUs are typically made of vinyl, a plastic product or paper coated with vinyl, which don’t break down and end up polluting the earth's soil and water, the campaign says.
As PLUs are thin and small, they run the risk of passing through screens which are made to catch small non-compostable items and divert them to landfills.
This is a real concern considering Canadians already throw away more than three million tonnes of plastic waste every year.
The stickers can also make their way through wastewater treatment plant screens, meaning they could end up in bodies of water, putting fish and wildlife at risk of ingesting them.
Thiru’s campaign is taking place over March and April, and asks people to sign the pledge form and collect their PLU stickers.
After facing months of pressure, senior government sources tell CTV News that Canada will unveil its plan on Thursday on how to reach its NATO commitment to spend two per cent of its GDP on defence.
A Louisiana sheriff says a one-year-old 'miracle baby' survived two days of sometimes stormy weather before a truck driver spotted him crawling along a roadside the day after his four-year-old brother was found dead and his mother was arrested in Mississippi.
Rangers seized two coolers from a person living in a tent in Vancouver's CRAB Park Tuesday as a heat wave scorched the city, the park board has confirmed.
The granddaughter of billionaire businessman Frank Stronach is asking an Ontario court to order the family business to disclose any documents that might exist related to complaints of sexual misconduct against him and settlements involving complainants.
The Vancouver Police Department is defending the actions of an officer who was recorded taking a firefighter's water hose and spraying two people in the head on Canada Day.
Movie star and lifelong Democrat George Clooney added his voice to calls for Joe Biden to leave the presidential race on Wednesday, just weeks after headlining a fundraiser that brought in a record single-night haul for the president's reelection campaign.
Ellen DeGeneres has reportedly said she's ready to tap out of performing. The former daytime talk show host let that be known during a recent standup show at the Luther Burbank Center for the Arts in Santa Rosa, California.
A family of three was killed in a tragic head-on collision with a tractor trailer in B.C.'s Fraser Valley this week, authorities have confirmed. The deceased are two adults and an infant.
The Vancouver Police Department is defending the actions of an officer who was recorded taking a firefighter's water hose and spraying two people in the head on Canada Day.
Under pounding rain, pro-Palestinian protesters carried their belongings off McGill University's downtown Montreal campus on Wednesday, as bulldozers and security forces dismantled the encampment that had been on the school's lower field since late April.
After a consultation process that began in 2010, residents in the Township of Ignace have voted in favour of hosting of a $22 billion nuclear waste site.
Eugenia “Jenny” Da Silva, the Brantford, Ont. woman who was reported missing after she failed to return home from work five days ago, has been found safe.
Rangers seized two coolers from a person living in a tent in Vancouver's CRAB Park Tuesday as a heat wave scorched the city, the park board has confirmed.
A cooler full of live eels broke open while being unloaded at the Vancouver International Airport earlier this week, with a video of the incident going viral on social media.
British police said they found Wednesday the man suspected of killing three women, the wife and daughters of a well-known BBC radio commentator, near London in a brutal crossbow attack.
NATO allies called China a 'decisive enabler' of Russia's war against Ukraine and expressed concerns over Beijing's nuclear arsenal and its capabilities in space.
A Louisiana sheriff says a one-year-old 'miracle baby' survived two days of sometimes stormy weather before a truck driver spotted him crawling along a roadside the day after his four-year-old brother was found dead and his mother was arrested in Mississippi.
Rangers have shot dead a 14-foot crocodile in northern Australia after it killed a 12-year-old girl while she was swimming with her family last week, police said Wednesday.
A man was caught trying to smuggle more than 100 live snakes into mainland China by stuffing them into his pants, according to the country's customs authority.
After facing months of pressure, senior government sources tell CTV News that Canada will unveil its plan on Thursday on how to reach its NATO commitment to spend two per cent of its GDP on defence.
Canada will provide another $500 million in military assistance to Ukraine as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is set have a one-on-one discussion with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the NATO summit in Washington, D.C.
Since arriving in Washington, D.C. earlier this week, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has faced a barrage of criticism about his government’s lack of a plan to meet the NATO pledge of spending two per cent of its gross domestic product (GDP) on defence.
Staffing shortages at hospitals across B.C.'s Interior have caused multiple emergency rooms to temporarily close in the past week, including in Lillooet, Merritt and Williams lake.
A Pittsburgh-based robotics company secured millions in a recent round of venture capital funding, with Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos even chipping into the pot.
Two astronauts who should have been back on Earth weeks ago said Wednesday that they’re confident that Boeing’s space capsule can return them safely, despite a string of vexing breakdowns.
As artificial intelligence (AI) continues to develop and become more accessible, law enforcement and other crime agencies, including those in Alberta, are warning about the rapid rise of deepfakes involving sexually explicit images and videos of children.
TikTok star Boman Martinez-Reid stars in 'Made for TV with Boman Martinez-Reid,' streaming Friday on Crave and premiering on its linear TV channel next week.
A defence attorney told jurors Wednesday that the shooting death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins was an 'unspeakable tragedy' but that 'Alec Baldwin committed no crime; he was an actor, acting.'
Ellen DeGeneres has reportedly said she's ready to tap out of performing. The former daytime talk show host let that be known during a recent standup show at the Luther Burbank Center for the Arts in Santa Rosa, California.
A Quebec Superior Court judge has ordered that a notice be made public informing Canadians that they may be excluded from a class action against Air Canada.The lawsuit aims to compensate disabled travellers forced to pay extra for attendant seats on domestic flights between Dec. 5, 2005, and Dec. 5, 2008. The action now only includes Quebec residents.
Tipping is meant to empower customers and motivate workers to deliver quality service, but some question whether the prevalent practice actually enhances customers' experience.
Tipping is meant to empower customers and motivate workers to deliver quality service, but some question whether the prevalent practice actually enhances customers' experience.
U.S. travellers sharing hot takes on European tap water consumption (or lack thereof) has become a bit of a social media trend over the past year or so.
Surinamese sprinter Issamade Asinga sued the Gatorade Company on Wednesday, alleging his recent doping ban was the result of eating contaminated 'recovery gummies' that the brand manufactured and provided.
Tampa Bay Rays shortstop Wander Franco is scheduled to go to trial Aug. 14 after being charged with sexually abusing a 14-year-old girl in the Dominican Republic, authorities said Wednesday.
Gregg Berhalter was relieved of his duties as head coach of the United States men's team, U.S. Soccer said on Wednesday, after a humiliating early exit on home soil at the Copa America.
As many as four out of 10 Canadians say it is 'important' to know if a vehicle they're interested in purchasing is more likely to be targeted by thieves, according to a new Nanos Research survey.
A driverless ride-hailing car in China hit a pedestrian, and people on social media are taking the carmaker's side, because the person was reportedly crossing against the light.
Some say a photograph is simply a memory frozen in time – and a high school graduation photo taken in Churchill, Man. takes that adage to a completely new level.
Would-be homebuyers who backed out of a deal to purchase a B.C. property in a hot real estate market have been ordered to pay the seller the difference between what they offered and what he was able to sell the home for when the market cooled.
The Vancouver Police Department is defending the actions of an officer who was recorded taking a firefighter's water hose and spraying two people in the head on Canada Day.
A Kelowna, B.C., man says he's always liked gnomes because they have a "bit of mystery" to them. And he recently got a taste of that whimsy when his garden gnomes disappeared, and came back to him in a peculiar fashion.
Former BC Green Party leader Andrew Weaver is treading back into B.C. politics, slamming NDP Premier David Eby in an opinion piece in the Vancouver Sun, and showering praise on BC Conservative Leader John Rustad. He echoed those sentiments in an interview with CTV News Wednesday.
Ontario's premier pushed back against critics of his government's controversial decision to shut down the Ontario Science Centre, calling the building 'decrepit' and saying completely fixing it would cost upwards of half a billion dollars.
When major events come to the nation's capital or when harsh weather slams the city, the dozens of staff members inside OC Transpo's Transit Operations Control Centre (TOCC) jump into action.
Ottawa's Sandy Hill neighbourhood is one of the best places to live in Canada, according to a new study. The RE/MAX 2024 Liveability Report names Sandy Hill, the area nestled between the Rideau Canal and the Rideau River, as one of the 10 best neighbourhoods in the country.
Some drivers had to abandon their cars during the afternoon commute on Wednesday after Montreal was soaked in a heavy, record-breaking downpour of rain that wreaked havoc on the roads.
Two former Quebec junior hockey players will appeal their prison sentences for sexually assaulting a minor at a hotel in June 2021 during a celebration of a Victoriaville Tigres championship win.
Under pounding rain, pro-Palestinian protesters carried their belongings off McGill University's downtown Montreal campus on Wednesday, as bulldozers and security forces dismantled the encampment that had been on the school's lower field since late April.
It's more of a "smog" issue for Edmonton than a wildfire smoke issue. But, the city and surrounding regions are under an "Air Quality Statement" issued by Environment and Climate Change Canada.
Emergency room doctors in Atlantic Canada say "bed-blocking" and patients presenting with advanced disease that wasn't detected or cared for earlier are driving high numbers of deaths.
After facing months of pressure, senior government sources tell CTV News that Canada will unveil its plan on Thursday on how to reach its NATO commitment to spend two per cent of its GDP on defence.
Many residents in both Regina and Moose Jaw may have noticed an unusual taste and odour from their drinking water. The change is nothing to worry about, according to the cities.
Eugenia “Jenny” Da Silva, the Brantford, Ont. woman who was reported missing after she failed to return home from work five days ago, has been found safe.
A group of farmers, who expressed concern about expropriation in Wilmot Township, say they’ll keep fighting even though their latest push for answers has failed.
It’s shorts and T-shirt weather as temperatures are hitting the mid-thirties across Saskatchewan. But imagine experiencing this while wearing a big fluffy fur coat.
After a consultation process that began in 2010, residents in the Township of Ignace have voted in favour of hosting of a $22 billion nuclear waste site.
A Louisiana sheriff says a one-year-old 'miracle baby' survived two days of sometimes stormy weather before a truck driver spotted him crawling along a roadside the day after his four-year-old brother was found dead and his mother was arrested in Mississippi.
Eugenia “Jenny” Da Silva, the Brantford, Ont. woman who was reported missing after she failed to return home from work five days ago, has been found safe.
A man charged in connection with a fatal dump truck crash near Alliston nearly four years ago has been found guilty of criminal negligence causing death.
The deputy premier and health minister was in Orillia Wednesday morning to announce a $10 million investment to address a staffing shortage in many of Ontario's hospitals.
Windsor police have charged five suspects and issued an arrest warrant for a sixth person in connection with the murder of a Windsor man who went missing almost four months ago.
On Tuesday evening, hundreds of people showed their support for the boys by gathering in the village square, with drums in their hands and songs in their hearts.
Second World War veteran John Hillman, who raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for charity in the last years of his life, died Monday at the age of 105.
B.C.'s wildfire risk is expected to increase significantly in the coming days after a stretch of hot weather dried out parts of the province and lightning is in the forecast.
Mounties in Kamloops have released photos of two suspects and a vehicle believed to have been involved in a shooting last week linked to an "ongoing conflict" between drug traffickers.
B.C.'s health minister said multiple emergency room closures in the Interior this past weekend were unavoidable due to an above-average number of health-care workers calling in sick.
On June 17, the St. Mary Canal Siphon north of Babb, Mont., suffered a catastrophic failure. Prep work is underway to repair the siphon but it won't be a quick fix.
Summer campers at Lethbridge College are trading in sunshine for air conditioning as a heat warning continues to blanket most of Alberta with temperatures expected in the mid-30s.
After a consultation process that began in 2010, residents in the Township of Ignace have voted in favour of hosting of a $22 billion nuclear waste site.
When a woman in her 90s with dementia went missing from her assisted living facility, North Bay police were able to find her quickly using a locator tool.
The union representing inshore fishers and fish plant workers Newfoundland and Labrador interrupted a press conference of the country's environment ministers in St. John's.
After delays due to repairs, a new Marine Atlantic ferry sailing between Newfoundland and Nova Scotia is expected to make its inaugural passenger trip this evening.
Protesters returned to Memorial University in St. John's, N.L., on Monday, days after police responded to a pro-Palestinian encampment on campus and charged three students.