About Us

Our Mission

PURE (Plastic Usage Reduction & Elimination) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to reducing and eliminating plastic. No matter who you are or where you live, plastic is in your body. Our nonprofit organization aims to change that by reducing plastic consumption, which, in turn, also reduces plastic production. One of our projects encourages everyone to use reliable, reusable metal cutlery and carry their cutlery everywhere. Our goal for this project is to distribute pouches with metal cutlery as well as a complementary metal straw and brush. Another goal is to reduce the disposal of harmful decorations by providing environmentally friendly alternatives through our decoration lending service. By offering this service, we promote the reuse of decorations, minimizing waste and reducing the demand for new, single-use items. While many companies claim that reusable plastic is a viable option, it’s not truly reusable. It degrades into microplastics, which are just as harmful as regular plastic. In any form, plastic is detrimental to our health. Let’s all come together to eliminate plastic in any form!

Partner/Sponsors

SOL Collaborative is our parent company and while operating under their jurisdiction, they have given us the opportunity to take advantage of their 501(c)(3) certification so that we are able to take in donations that can be deducted from our sponsors’ taxes. They have given us a platform where we can provide our service in a way that is efficient and autonomous. We cannot be more grateful for all the things that they have provided for us to become a successfully run student organization. All this would not be possible without their help and it is an honor to be a branch of their non-profit organization.

Other Trusted Partners

Union City Library

Alameda County Office of Education

Tender Loving Care

Skill Mind Hubs

Our Team

Soorya Ramaraju

Founder & CEO

I am Soorya Ramaraju, a student at James Logan High School, Union City. I am the founder and CEO of the organization. My passion towards the environment started as early as elementary school, when I learned about the issues of global warming. This sparked my interest and eventually, my various activities centered around the environment motivated me to start this nonprofit organization to reduce plastic waste.

Sreyas Sriram Kota

Vice-President & Manager

I Sreyas Sriram Kota, serve as the Vice-President and Manager of the PURE organization. The excessive use of plastic in the modern era and its impact on the environment inspired me to join this nonprofit initiative, where I now work alongside a dedicated team to spread awareness about the harmful effects of plastic, promote sustainable alternatives, and reduce plastic consumption in our communities.

Ashish Bhogasmudram

lead developer

I’m Ashish Bhogasamudram, a high school student who loves programming and has worked with many different programming languages. I’m also the lead developer of the website, where I focus on expanding its features and making it better over time.

Our Accomplishments

PURE has been sponsoring metal cutlery and decorations for several events. It also donated numerous plants for community plant exchange events, organized decoration drives, and worked with several partners in achieving our goal to eliminate plastic in any form.

Our latest project “Garbage to Green”