Plastic Pioneers Sprout Junior Activists (Loads of Cute Pics Inside)

I am proud to announce that the plastic team has successfully reached every school aged group possible; from kindergarten to elementary, middle through high school and even college level. We have had the pleasure of enlightening and empowering many young people on the issues of plastic pollution but my favorite group by far has been the mini scientists from the Island School Early Learning Center (ELC). Shortly before the holiday break I had the pleasure of working with six precious kiddies from the ELC aged 2-6 years old. We discussed what happens to plastic waste, acted out the gyre and even talked about plastic fragmentation in the marine environment via a song and dance I created called “Plastic Breaking”. It was epic, click here: ELC Plastic Song and Dance to view the video of these little cuties singing and dancing. These kids were on their A-game as most of them already knew what happened to the waste that we ‘throw away’ and offered solutions to the problem. After our mini lecture filled with dancing and fun we headed to the beach to do a mini clean up. All of the debris collected was used by the students to make beautiful pieces of art. I had such an amazing time working with the ELC crew, they were tons of fun! Thanks to the lovely Mrs. Cassie who made everything happen, can’t wait to do this all over again. 

Photo Credit: Erik Kruthoff

ELC kiddies acting out the gyre

Plastic!

Little ones searching for plastic

Putting plastic in the bucket

Hold on....so How do you do beach surveys again?? (Photos Inside)

Who knew surveying a beach for debris could be so complicated! Well it is when you don't know what the hell your doing!! Thank goodness for Carolynn Box, my former crew mate and Environmental Coordinator at 5 Gyres. She is responsible for successfully launching the Plastic Beach project throughout Marin County in California. When we first started The Plastic Beach Project it was quite the ordeal as we didn't have the proper equipment and

I was having some troubles understanding the proper execution of the methods. After hours of skype calls with Carolynn, which consisted of several drawings to aid in my understanding, I got it! In the words of Drake- "We started from the bottom, now we here" Lol That's a pretty new age quote, I'll go with it. I'm proud of the leaps and bounds we've made since launching this project but I can't ever forget where we started from. These photos below are from our "trial", "trial" trial survey, as we had several trial runs until we perfected our technique. FYI this survey was not performed correctly lol.

Plastic Pioneers Plunge into Plastic Art and Fun (Loads of Photos Inside)

In the Fall of 2012 things started to take off for the plastic team at the Island School (IS) and the Cape Eleuthera Institute (CEI). During that time my primary focus was to maintain our aquaponics system and assist with teaching a marine research class. Luckily I was fortunate to have my feet in several different pools including the art and human ecology classes at the Island School. For the art class I would take all of the students to the beach to do a beach sweep. This activity allowed the students to witness the first hand effects of our dependence on plastic products and also provided the medium for their art projects where they either had to create an activist or up-cycled piece from plastic they collected. Both classes provided me the opportunity to enlighten the entire IS student
body about plastic pollution and inspired them to raise awareness of the issue and make changes within the local school community. Since then this has been a staple within the IS curriculum as I deliver my plastic lecture every semester in addition to continuing to help with the art and human ecology classes.

So if I had to recount the fall of 2012 via the plastic related things we did I would have to say: mini museum, plastic talk, cotton bay beach, beach sweeps, plastic art, plastic jewelry, plastic and human health awareness, plastic p.s.a videos, FUN!! Honorable mentions to everyone that was a part of the movement in the Fall of 2012 especially the Island School Fall 12 semester (so much love for that group), Nadine Lloyd, Serena Galleshaw and all teachers and interns involved.

Panoramic Photo Creds: Maria White