Elementary Students Lead Push for Sustainable Plastic Solutions
Plastic pollution is a leading contributor to climate change. Plastic is a nearly unavoidable facet of our lives. Visiting the grocery store, it’s difficult to find items without some sort of plastic film or casing. Recognizing this overabundance of plastic and the difficulty to recycle it, 6th graders Florence Gooch and Elsie Taylor worked with the Paideia Sustainability and Climate Collective to organize a plastic film drive through the recycling start-up Ridwell.
Within our framework of values, Paideia emphasizes the importance of introducing children to the complex interrelatedness of people and the environment, as well as encouraging them to advocate for the preservation and protection of the natural world. Paideia’s sustainability and urban agriculture programs encourage students to live out these values in actionable ways, whether they are practicing recycling or composting on campus or weeding invasive plant species on Pi Farm.
As students in Elisa and Adrianne’s class, Elsie and Florence have been studying social justice issues, climate change and advocacy as part of their central subject “Agents of Change.” Both girls have learned about the impacts of climate change and the importance of doing their part, both at school and at home. “My mom has worked with a bunch of environmental non-profits, so she’s told me about work like this,” says Florence. Plastic film is the thin, stretchy kind of plastic used for ziploc bags, grocery bags, bubble wrap and more, which can’t be recycled curbside. “Plastic film is a big part of landfills. There’s so much of it everywhere, so recycling helps us reduce some of that,” Elsie shares.
In the month leading up to the drive, Florence and Elsie designed flyers detailing which plastic film items can be collected, which they have hung up around the school. They also repurposed and decorated boxes for plastic film collection, which now reside in 1509, Python Hall, the High School Commons and the Junior High Commons. “All of the plastic film collected will be upcycled,” Florence explains. “Ridwell will turn the plastic film into decking material,” Elsie chimes in. To see a full list of plastic film items that can be collected, check the graphic below. You can recycle your plastic film in any of the aforementioned boxes now through April 28.
