By Avani Prakash
11/21/21 edit - added author's name, categories
The West Windsor Environmental Club, a group of high school environmental activists, first met at a township meeting on November 18, 2019. Addressed at that meeting was a single use plastic bag ban ordinance, and we stood before the town council and audience and spoke out in support of it: “Implementing this ordinance will benefit our town and ameliorate the environmental state of our planet. We don’t want ourselves and future generations to have to live in a community that is polluted, and banning plastic bags is a necessary first step in addressing the problem.”
The room filled with applause as we concluded, because who wouldn’t listen to the riveting words of the town’s youth? Well not even a month later, Mayor Marathe vetoed the ordinance. We had even sent him an email following our speech, urging him not to veto it, yet we received no reply or explanation as to why he did. But for whatever his reasons were, politics have no place in this pressing issue as plastic bags harm our ecosystem and destroy our world.
At that same township meeting, I first met Tirza Wahrman, a committed member (and now Vice Chair) of the West Windsor Environmental Commission. She congratulated us on our speech and collected our names and emails to involve us in the Commission and future township events. Since that day, Tirza has been sending us emails and talking to me about every development in the Commission’s work and how my club can help. She recognizes the importance of getting the youth of West Windsor involved in the town, as each decision made impacts us the most. My club has been to Commission meetings and events, such as reusable bag giveaways, where we have directly worked with Tirza. Her transparency and genuine dedication to her work allows us to feel included and understand what is going on in our town.
Tirza has the absolute support of our club members (Avani Prakash, Seher Talukdar, Tiffany Kemeklis, Eva Hu, Amira Adarkwah, Anitra Krishnan, Akshita Prakash, Sahana Senthilkumar, Arshia Tadipatri, Sakhee Daga, Vivien Huang, Nicole Wang, Leel Dias), as well as all environmentally-conscious students across West Windsor. As minors, we can’t vote, so we encourage you to make the right decision for our town and vote Tirza Wahrman for Mayor.
For more information about Tirza Wahrman, visit Tirza’s campaign facebook page, “Tirza Wahrman for Mayor”. More information about her professional background can also be found on her LinkedIn page.