Ritesh Yadav

October 12, 2020
This week, we’re celebrating ISU student Ritesh Yadav, who won a United Nations Association of the USA ad campaign competition with his “No Plastic Straws” campaign.
Ritesh came from Nepal to earn an undergraduate degree. He is majoring in Economics and minoring in Mathematics, but he says that he did not settle on this field of interest until his Junior year! Clearly, he has found it to be a good fit. Now, Ritesh plans to further his education to a doctorate in Economics. He is also the president of the Economics Club, holds a board seat for the UN-USA chapter on campus, and is currently working at Bengal Solutions, a business consulting group that consults for business and economic developmental frameworks for Idaho.
This was Ritesh’s first time entering the competition for UN-USA, and he had some tough competition. Only 8 out of 20,000 applicants were selected to compete. When asked why he thought his pitch was so successful, Ritesh said he believes it was because his was the only implementation of the “No Plastic Straws” practice at a community, versus global, level.
Ritesh says he was nervous during the competition because he thought his competitors’ pitches were equally impactful, leaving him with doubts about the strength of his own pitch. However, he gained confidence as the competition unfolded. While other competitors’ pitches were impressive, Ritesh’s plan focused on local impact and replicability, which allowed his pitch to stand out against his competitors’. It was not just the idea that moved Ritesh’s pitch ahead in the competition, but how it potentially could be practiced in multiple settings.
Ritesh makes a point of practicing his beliefs about single-use plastics by minimizing his own usage of them. Small things add up, he says. Ritesh works on lowering his plastic impact by doing simple things such as using plastic grocery bags only when absolutely necessary (using tote bags instead) and never using plastic straws. In fact, he says he can’t even remember the last time he used a straw.
Ritesh plans to use his $500 UN-USA competition award for a “No Plastic Straws” campaign on our campus. He intends to distribute metal straws and generate awareness about the destructive nature of single-use plastics. He wants our campus community to become aware of the harm single-use plastics can do. Ritesh is quite passionate about the matter of plastic and wants to spread the message, and he’s willing to put himself and his prize money behind that message.
Ritesh, we applaud your initiative and passion!