Las Vegas Second Grader Recruits Help From the Venetian and the Palazzo for His Mission to Save the Planet

Dec 6, 2018 8:35 AM ET
Campaign: Sands Confidential

As featured on the Sands Confidential blog

Benji Bach, a seven-year-old second grader at American Heritage Academy in Las Vegas, has been on a quest to save the environment by reducing the use of plastic shopping bags after reading about plastic bags floating in the ocean and how they can harm sea life.  Benji decided to take action and sent a letter to The Venetian Resort asking for assistance with his efforts to seek help from his classmates to eliminate their use of plastic bags. 

Hello,

I am Benji Bach and I am almost in 2nd Grade. My mom and I have recently read a lot about plastic bags floating in the ocean and killing sea turtles and other ocean wildlife. After we saw a picture of a stork trapped in one of the plastic bags we decided to never use them again.

I go to American Heritage Academy in Las Vegas, Nevada. There is 498 students. I would like all of my friends at school to stop using plastic bags to make the sea turtles smile again. I don't have enough money to buy that many cotton shopping bags and that is why I am writing to you. I would like to ask you for some help in getting the cotton bags for our students so we can make a difference for the environment. I googled environmentally friendly hotels in Las Vegas and The Palazzo Resort hotel is on the top. Amazing!

Thank you for taking your time to read my letter.

Best regards,
Benji Bach

On Wednesday, November 14, Benji’s school held an assembly for the students to learn more about how they can help save the planet. Pranav Jampani, director of sustainability for The Venetian Resort spoke to the school about all the ways the students can reduce, reuse and recycle waste to help make the planet a better place to live.  With the help of Pranav and The Venetian Resort sustainability team, Benji distributed reusable cotton shopping bags to nearly 500 of his classmates at American Heritage Academy. 

During the presentation, Benji presented Pranav with a stuffed whale and Pranav also presented Benji with a gift from the Integrated Resort. 

“It feels great to do this today,” Benji said.  “I just wanted to get everyone in my school to stop using plastic shopping bags.  Now, everyone has reusable bags so they can stop using bags from the store.” 

Las Vegas Sands’ award-winning sustainability program, Sands ECO360, works in the communities where we do business, promoting strong quality of life through reduction of environmental impact on the planet.

To view Benji's video, click here: https://youtu.be/r1HHf-51Y6o