Organizing Director: Caleb Haddad, [email protected]
NJPIRG Office: 104 Bayard St. Suite 102, New Brunswick, NJ, 08901
Current Campaigns:
New Voters Project
We’ll be continuing our work mobilizing young people to vote as our lead campaign for Fall 2021. New Voters Project is a grassroots initiative to Get Out The Vote on campus, but also to institutionalize voting among students. New Jersey had the highest youth voter turnout in the country in the 2020 election but there is still work to be done! We know that it is essential to continue to work to build a culture of civic engagement on campus for all elections, especially local elections which have more of a direct impact on students’ lives. And there is a lot Rutgers should do to make voting easier. From RAs having voter registration forms at your first floor meeting to busing students to the polls, there’s so much Rutgers can do to make voting easier!
Whole Foods Break Free From Plastics
Plastic is quite literally choking our ocean, with a garbage truck worth of trash entering our oceans every minute, where it injures and kills birds and marine animals like sea turtles. In order to turn the tide on packaging pollution, we need corporations to do their part to eliminate single use plastics. Whole Foods has led on plastics in the past when they became the first U.S. grocer to eliminate plastic bags at checkout. But they’ve started to lag behind competitors and recently got an F for failing to have a comprehensive strategy on reducing their plastic footprint. We want Whole Foods to put the planet over plastic and eliminate single-use plastic packaging items from their stores.
100% Renewable Energy
Burning oil, gas, and coal has polluted our air, water, and land for decades – and now it’s changing the climate even faster than scientists feared it would. We know we can have healthier communities and a livable future for generations to come. But to get there, we must transform the way we produce and consume energy. That’s why we’re calling for a commitment to 100 percent renewable power and expanding access to clean energy for all. It’s a big, bold goal – and it’s a goal that’s 100 percent possible. We’re working to get Rutgers to commit to 100% renewable energy by 2030. We’re continuing to build support from faculty and students to send a clear message that the Scarlet Knight community is 100% committed to 100% renewables.
Make Textbooks Affordable
Open & Affordable Textbooks: college is expensive, and the skyrocketing costs of textbooks aren’t helping. NJPIRG Students helped launch the Open & Affordable Textbooks (OAT) Project at Rutgers, and continues to work for more affordable educational materials by educating professors on OER books and mobilizing against the rise of expensive access codes and other new initiatives running up costs for students.
Hunger and Homelessness
No student should have to worry about where their next meal will come from or where they’ll sleep at night, but COVID-19 has increased food and housing insecurity for many students. We’re working with partners on campus to raise awareness and provide resources to combat food and housing insecurity in our community.
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