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The Plastic Problem and Solutions

Maya Faulstich

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Story Of Plastic Animated Short

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Discussion Break

You already knew about?

You learned?

That surprised you?

In the video what is something...

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Ways WE Can Take Action Individually

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Ways WE Can Take Action Individually

Awareness

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Ways WE Can Take Action Individually

Awareness

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Ways WE Can Take Action Individually

Reduce, Replace, Rethink

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Ways WE Can Take Action Individually

Reduce, Replace, Rethink

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Ways WE Can Take Action Individually

Reduce, Replace, Rethink

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Ways WE Can Take Action Individually

Reduce, Replace, Rethink

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Ways WE Can Take Action Individually

Reduce, Replace, Rethink

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Ways WE Can Take Action Individually

Reduce, Replace, Rethink

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Ways WE Can Take Action Individually

Reduce, Replace, Rethink

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Ways WE Can Take Action Individually

Reduce, Replace, Rethink

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Ways WE Can Take Action Individually

Reduce,

Replace,

Rethink

GoGo Refill

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Ways WE Can Take Action Individually

Write

And and there’s Writing! Writing is so important, because no matter how much we take care of our own plastic, factories will keep producing plastic, selling it to big companies that sell it to stores, which then sell it to us. This problem needs to stop at its source. Write to your local grocery store and tell them to carry plastic free products, write to a company you like to buy from, tell them that you don't like their plastic packaging, and suggest alternatives, like a reuse system. A reuse system is when a company uses reusable materials. For example, if a restaurant gave you metal utensils to use, washed them, and reused them for another customer, that would be a reuse system. If a restaurant gave you disposable plastic utensils that you then throw away, that would not be a reuse system. We can implement more reuse systems in companies and restaurants by writing to them. The world needs to hear our voices because stores listen to consumers. Big companies listen to stores, and factories listen to big companies. The organization Beyond Plastics has a sample letter to write to companies, that I will provide to your teacher.

For example, I led a group of young people to write letter to Coca Cola to ask them to stop using plastic packaging.

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Ways WE Can Take Action Individually

Write

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Ways WE Can Take Action Individually

Write

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Communicate and Educate

Ways WE Can Take Action Individually

What conversations can you have within your area of influence?

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Communicate and Educate

Ways WE Can Take Action Individually

What conversations can you have within your area of influence?

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Communicate and Educate

Ways WE Can Take Action Individually

Discussion Break

What conversations can you have within your area of influence?

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Ways WE Can Take Action TOGETHER

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Ways WE Can Take Action TOGETHER

Policy

Single-use Plastic Bag Ban
Balloon Release Ban
Extended Producer Responsibility Law

First of all, policy. In Maine, we have policies that we have recently passed such as the plastic carry-out bag ban. Now, when you go to a grocery store, you have to bring your own reusable bag, which reduces so much single-use plastic! We also now have a ban on balloon releases, so at big gatherings you can’t release a lot of balloons into the environment. Maybe all these balloons are aesthetically pleasing for a few seconds, but what comes up must come down… balloons are really dangerous to the environment. Maine also has an extended producer responsibility law, which is a law that makes companies take responsibility for their plastic waste. These laws were passed by everyday people writing and advocating for solutions. Writing letters to the editor, writing to your legislators, using social media to tell them what you think, all of these things help pass policies.

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Ways WE Can Take Action TOGETHER

Policy

Single-use Plastic Bag Ban
Balloon Release Ban
Extended Producer Responsibility Law

In Maine, we have policies that we have recently passed such as the plastic carry-out bag ban. Now, when you go to a grocery store, you have to bring your own reusable bag, which reduces so much single-use plastic! We also now have a ban on balloon releases, so at big gatherings you can’t release a lot of balloons into the environment. Maybe all these balloons are aesthetically pleasing for a few seconds, but what comes up must come down… and balloons are really dangerous to the environment. Maine also has an extended producer responsibility law, which is a law that makes companies take responsibility for their plastic waste. These laws were passed by everyday people writing and advocating for solutions. Writing letters to the editor, writing to your legislators, using social media to tell them what you think, all of these things help pass policies.

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Ways WE Can Take Action TOGETHER

Policy

Single-use Plastic Bag Ban
Balloon Release Ban
Extended Producer Responsibility Law

In Maine, we have policies that we have recently passed such as the plastic carry-out bag ban. Now, when you go to a grocery store, or Walmart, or Target, you have to bring your own reusable bag, which reduces so much single-use plastic! We also now have a ban on balloon releases, so at big gatherings you can’t release a lot of balloons into the environment. Maybe all these balloons are aesthetically pleasing for a few seconds, but what does up must come down… balloons are really dangerous to the environment. Maine also has an extended producer responsibility law, which is a law that makes companies take responsibility for their plastic waste. These laws were passed by everyday people writing and advocating for solutions. Writing letters to the editor, writing to your legislators, using social media to tell them what you think, all of these things help pass policies.

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Ways WE Can Take Action TOGETHER

Innovation

Mycelium

Starch peanut

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Ways WE Can Take Action TOGETHER

Innovation

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Ways WE Can Take Action TOGETHER

Discussions and Inspiration

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Ways WE Can Take Action TOGETHER

Discussions and Inspiration

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Passion

Purpose

Skill set

Making it Meaningful

So there are the things that we all can do to stop plastic pollution, but it will be easier to do these things if they are more meaningful. So here is the diagram that shows you how you can connect your passions and skill sets to a purpose, in this case, plastic pollution.

Here is an example that applies to me. I am passionate about the ocean, I love the ocean and spending time on the water with my family. I am good at art- especially making collages and using watercolors. And of course the purpose is plastic pollution. So how can I connect these three things? Well, currently I’m working on a project that is an artistic interpretation of a graph of how plastic production has increased throughout the years, because I love the ocean, I’m good at art, and I want to help stop plastic pollution. How does

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Making it Meaningful

Passion

Purpose

Skill set

So there are the things that we all can do to stop plastic pollution, but it will be easier to do these things if they are more meaningful. So here is the diagram that shows you how you can connect your passions and skill sets to a purpose, in this case, plastic pollution.

Here is an example that applies to me. I am passionate about the ocean, I love the ocean and spending time on the water with my family. I am good at art- especially making collages and using watercolors. And of course the purpose is plastic pollution. So how can I connect these three things? Well, currently I’m working on a project that is an artistic interpretation of a graph of how plastic production has increased throughout the years, because I love the ocean, I’m good at art, and I want to help stop plastic pollution. How does

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Ways We Can Take Action Together:

Policy
Innovation
Discussions and Inspiration

Ways We Can Take Action Individually:

Reduce, Replace, Rethink
Write
Communicate and Educate

Learnings:

Plastic has negative impacts on the environment and humans
Plastic pollutes throughout every stage of its life cycle

Making it Meaningful:

Passion, Skillset, Purpose

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Join the Movement!

Q + A

#breakfreefromplastic

Beyondplastics.org

Upstreamsolutions.org

Adropintheoceanshop.com

bit.ly/plastic-problem

Contact me:

Twitter: @EmmyPlastic

Email: plasticproblem@waltzingcat.com