The Ocean Plastic Crisis
Take a moment to look around the room that you’re in. How many objects can you see that are made from plastic? This simple exercise was how we began a recent Nature Links class, and the results surprised us all. As we worked together to compile a collective list of the all the plastic items found in just one room of our homes, we were astounded by just how much plastic we surround ourselves with each and every day. From pens to water bottles to takeout forks to DVD cases, we live in a plastic world. But it’s not the sheer amount of plastic we have in our homes that’s the problem. At Nature Links we began asking, “what happens to this plastic once we’re done with it?”
This fall, through generous funding from the John Sage Foundation, our community of Nature Links learners will focus our attention on the Ocean Plastic Crisis. We’ve begun by exploring our own relationship to the ocean, including the benefits we receive from the sea as well as memories we’ve made with family and friends in or around the ocean. “Close your eyes and listen to the waves. Feel your feet sink into the sand. Its meditation,” said participant Derian. We then focused on plastic, learning about how plastic is made and how pollution can be caused in the process. Participant Ezra wrote, “During the manufacturing process, heating plastic up to melt it is harmful for our environment. Extracting oil from the ground to make plastic and transporting plastic materials all produce pollution too.” We then began to take a look at the ocean plastic crisis by learning about why so much plastic ends up in our oceans and how scientists are studying plastic’s impact on marine life.
“Close your eyes and listen to the waves. Feel your feet sink into the sand. Its meditation.”
During our fall unit, each Nature Links participant will research and present on a marine animal they consider beautiful, special or interesting. We’ll hear from participants themselves as they teach us about the green turtle, the orca, the narwhal, the harbor seal and more. We’ll also have a chance to learn from guest speakers who can answer all our questions related to ocean plastic, including Heather Richard from the Shaw Institute and a Maine 8th grader who has researched alternative ways of preventing plastic pollution.
This fall we hope to become experts and activists; learners who seek to understand the impact plastic has on our oceans and advocates for positive change. We’ll be working with the Natural Resources Council of Maine to write a letter to the editor in our local newspaper and we hope to organize a local cleanup that will help raise awareness on the issue. Continue to check back this fall for more updates on our learning and activism on this pressing issue.
