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Single-use plastic bags are one of the most common items collected during freshwater and marine cleanups. During the 2016 International Coastal Cleanup, nearly a million plastic bags were collected. As plastic degrades, it affects wildlife health, impairs water quality, and affects shoreline aesthetics. With help from Pennsylvania Sea Grant, students at Iroquois Elementary School in Erie, Pennsylvania, developed a recycling program that put a dent in the plastic bag problem and improved their Lake Erie community. Iroquois Elementary strives to prepare students for a changing world and promotes responsible citizenship. Teachers encourage students to engage in projects that can affect change in their communities.
Iroquois Elementary School students won the Pennsylvania Governor’s Award for the recycling program they developed with help from Pennsylvania Sea Grant. (Image credit: Sarah Skelton, Iroquois Elementary)
Iroquois Elementary invited Pennsylvania Sea Grant to speak to students about marine debris and plastics in the environment and specifically, in Lake Erie. At the time, students were looking into environmental topics around which to develop a community-based project. Pennsylvania Sea Grant educators planted the seed, and after researching the consequences of plastic bags in the environment, students in fourth through sixth grade decided to embark on an outreach campaign to improve the recycling and reuse of plastic bags in their community. Pennsylvania Sea Grant supported their efforts by providing resources about plastics and water quality.
Students collected data on plastic bag use by observing and tallying customer use of reusable bags in a local grocery store. They also surveyed school district teachers to determine the percentage of teachers who recycle. Students discovered that the reason for the low rate of recycling plastic bags in their community was that, unlike other recyclables, plastic bags are not collected curbside; they must be taken to specific drop off locations, such as grocery stores.
The students launched a plastic bag recycling program at their school by installing recycling receptacles for plastic bags. The students hosted an assembly for the entire school to introduce the issue and created a competition between classrooms to recycle the most bags, with the winners receiving a pizza and ice cream party.
As they educated the students in the school, those students educated their families and neighbors, making this a community effort to recycle plastic bags.
Sarah Skelton, Iroquois Elementary School teacher
“The students leading this project made a strong effort to educate their peers and their community about the importance of plastic bag recycling,” said Sarah Skelton, teacher at Iroquois Elementary. “As they educated the students in the school, those students educated their families and neighbors, making this a community effort to recycle plastic bags.” In just two months, the entire school had recycled over 68,000 plastic bags, which were later converted into a park bench by the Trex Company, Inc. As a result, Iroquois Elementary students were awarded the Governor’s Award for Environmental Excellence.
“One of the most inspiring aspects of this project is that it was initiated and implemented by a group of fourth- through sixth-grade students,” said Skelton. “They inspired change through education, created awareness, and became a part of the solution.”
This story was originally published as part of the 2017 NOAA Education Accomplishments Report.
