LHS Green Team Launch “Plastic Free May”
The Green Team at Livingston High School launched “Plastic Free May” an initiative to pledge to reduce one or more single use plastic items for the month of May and earning a Pledge Badge and the gratitude of mother earth!
Over 40 students have participated and seen the difference we can make by reducing our plastic waste. The average american will consume 9lbs of single use plastic a month, so this pledge could represent 360lbs of plastic diverted from landfill.
The students launched this action at their annual Environmental PEP rally featuring speeches from environmental leaders Brooke Kalva and Terry Yu. Original music came from the teachers band with lyrics from the High Schools inspiring artist and Environmental Science Teacher Doug Jay.
The students helped create a 50ft vine made from single use plastic bottles which wrapped around the trees in front of the high school. The bottles were collected from LHS, Mount Pleasant Middle School and Mount Pleasant and Collins Elementary Schools. The vine confronts us with the volume of plastic we use in just a few days and it’s capacity to consume our natural resources. Students and staff added their thoughts and feelings about plastic and tagged the vine.
The brekdown of single use plastic is an increasingly urgent issue. The impacts of pollutants like DDT that drove the implementation of the Clean Water Act in the 1970s, rivers on fire and floating dead fish were easy to see and understand. Pollutants like PFAS and Microplastics are comparatively invisible and so maybe their influence feels less urgent to us? However, the long term implications of these materials are becoming increasingly apparent, and it’s vital we understand that these plastics are in every part of our lives, and now our bodies.
We can help as a community. Plastic Free May asks us to rethink our over consumption of plastic and to reconnect with nature. We will echo the students campaign by joining with the Plastic Free July movement, later this year.
It’s a good time to note that the NJ Skip the Stuff Law will go into effect August 1st. Help get ready by knowing what to expect, making your own reusable pouch for your cutlery and supporting local businesses by not requesting single use plastic. Spread the word!
Related Links:
‘The Plastic Detox’ Documentary screening and discussion June 25th 6:30pm at the Livingtson Public Library
