Students combat plastic pollution with old t-shirts
Students at Potter Elementary are putting ideas into action in under 10 minutes, and without spending a penny.
After learning about the Great Pacific Garbage Patch — a stretch of plastic waste, mostly from North America and Asia, huddled together across the Pacific by various currents — two Girl Scouts in Maureen Mantzavinos' fifth grade class had an idea to help.
Julia Duphily and Kallie Rose had made reusable totes out of old shirts during troop meetings, and they introduced the idea to their classmates.
[Related: Make your own t-shirt tote]
"We really thought it was terrible that tortoises were dying because of plastic bags, and even worse because there's something we can do," said Duphily, pulling out a copy of "Lonesome George." The book details the last living Pinta Island tortoise, who passed in his Galápagos Islands home in 2012.
Students worked on their projects during the STEAM block (science, technology, engineering, art, and math). Mantzavinos explained that repurposing old t-shirts is exactly what STEAM is all about. The project stemmed from a scientific study of the effects of plastic on the environment, and students used problem-solving and art to combat a global issue.
It's important for them to know that they can make a difference, said Mantzavinos.
"It makes me feel really great that kids are taking a stand, and we get to inform adults," said Duphily.
"It'll just make me happy if there are more sea turtles in the world now," said Rose.
Rose's mother and troop leader Tara Rose visited to walk students through the project, but t-shirt totes aren't the only green initiative the girls have taken on. They also do trash cleanups and recycle.
The girls spit out facts about pollution and solutions to combat it while creating another t-shirt tote, which they did in under 10 minutes. Their suggestions: bring extra plastic bags to the grocery store to be recycled, as they can't be recycled in the same fashion as plastic bottles; try to pick up litter when you see it; and don't throw trash out your car window.
