How to Help

Repurpose common trash materials through upcycling ‘waste’ plastics into arts and crafts. Students will be able to repurpose common trash materials through upcycling ‘waste’ plastics into arts and crafts.

Motivate people in your community to help solve the marine debris issue by creating your own behavior change campaign. Students will be able to use behavioral insights and communication strategies to motivate people to help solve the marine debris issue in their community. 

Upcycle plastic bags that would thrown out while creating art and learn about the properties of materials. Students will be able to identify the benefits and consequences of plastic properties and functions. Students will explore how to alter and upcycle waste plastics into new repurposed items with value as a solution to the plastic pollution problem.

Understand where, how much and what kinds of debris are present in your environment using this activity that introduces the Urban Trash Monitoring Protocol.

See the effects of trash on an area by trying to find all of the items on this scavenger hunt. Students will be able to illustrate the types of human-made trash that occur in our urban spaces and explore how these items can affect the human and non-human world. 

In this session, students will learn about the Chumash History of the Swordfish and how it is connected to the yak titʸu titʸu yak tiłhini tribe.

In this session, students will learn about various types of plastic and work together to create a reusable sandwich bag. 

In this session, students will learn about various types of plastic and work together to create a reusable beeswax wrap. 

We make a recommendation, or feasibility study, on how our school can reduce the amount of lunchroom trash. We present this to our class, community partner, and to school decision makers.

We share our ideas with each other and our community partner about how to reduce the amount of trash produced in our school lunchrooms. We talk about the results of our lunchroom audit. We decide which ideas, for reducing our lunchroom trash, we want to research.

We investigate where the trash is produced in our school and compare it to the trash produced at home. We investigate how our school manages trash. We audit what type and how much trash is produced in our school lunchrooms.

We explore how trash gets into the water. We investigate the common marine debris in the Great Lakes. We learn how trash (plastic) impacts animals including people.

Students learn about what happens to plastic items and food when we throw them away. Students will use the 5R words to think about ways to keep trash from the landfill.

Students investigate where the things go when we throw them away.

Students will complete a trash cleanup with a community partner and learn why this partner thinks reducing marine debris is important.