The Power of Student Voice in Environmental Advocacy
By Caterina Fragomeno, Nidhi Patel, Katelyn Auty & Joshua McCrae
Do you know what scares us? The unsustainable consumption of single-use plastics by people, both globally and locally. Plastic production has increased from 2.3 million tons in 1950 to currently 6.9 billion tons. Single-use plastics such as plastic straws and plastic grocery bags are simply used for convenience but that convenience comes at a cost. It takes an estimated 1000 years for one plastic bag to decompose. Even when these materials are so -called decomposed, the small plastic pieces end up in our oceans, killing thousands of animals and harming humans. An estimated 100,000 marine animals die every year due to plastic bags. To put it into perspective, Americans alone use 100,000 billion plastic bags per year, requiring the production of 12 million barrels of oil. Oil is a nonrenewable resource and the consumption of fossil fuels is a contributing factor for climate change. One could easily say plastic bags are a pandemic for our planet and for our future generations.
Climate change is real and we desperately need to slow it down by changing our human consumption of items such as single-use plastics. Consequently, our KN-11th grade population at Odyssey Charter School has completed several amazing projects to teach our local community about how to help protect the environment. In November of 2018, our entire school raised $4,000 during Green Week to fund the purchase of four water bottle filling stations, which are used to reduce the amount of plastic water bottles students consume at school. In this same month, the Advanced Placement (AP) Human Geography students taught 7th grade classes about the Rodrigues Fruit Bat, an endangered species negatively being impacted by climate change. We used the story of the Rodrigues Fruit Bat to encourage the 7th graders to be more cognizant of their waste in order to protect this species. Our AP Human Geography class also made personalized tote bags for students in a 2nd grade class, providing each student with a picture book about how to save the environment. We were excited to have the opportunities to inform younger students about harmful habits, which will hopefully help them effectively make a change in our community and beyond.
All throughout February of 2019, KN-11th grade students collected plastic bags as part of an initiative with the Trex Company. As a school, we collected over 500 pounds of plastic, or roughly 30,000 plastic bags. Normally these bags would end up in a landfill. Yet, the biggest project we have worked on as a class is our Zero Waste Fair. Each student in the AP Human Geography class worked with a partner to create a presentation about a variety of topics such as Single-Use Plastic, Reducing Your Carbon Footprint, and Saving “Ugly” Foods. On Monday, March 4, 2019, we presented our projects to 1,200 of our school’s students between 3rd and 11th grade. This allowed us to inform our fellow classmates about how to positively change their consumption habits and how they can help the environment, even on a local level.
After spending a significant amount of time working with our school’s students regarding these issues, we took our efforts to the next level by traveling to Legislative Hall in Dover, Delaware in early March to advocate for a ban on single-use plastic bags. We were fortunate to meet with fourteen Delaware legislators from throughout the state who represent a variety of constituents. For example, Senator Tizzy Lockman of Senate District 3 stressed that she always needs to take into consideration issues of equity when voting on a bill. We quickly realized that creating environmental policy is not always clear cut. However, we were pleasantly surprised by our interactions with the legislators. They truly cared about what we had to say.
So, what does all of this really mean in terms of advocacy? Or in terms of the environment? It means that we as students must take the responsibility into our own hands. How we treat the environment now will have a resounding impact on our sustainability for the future. Being an informed citizen, voting, speaking and writing to our politicians, and spreading the word to others, including our peers is the key to solving today’s most pressing problems. These actions will ensure a better tomorrow for the planet. We must do what we can now before it is too late.
Authors Caterina Fragomeno, Nidhi Patel, Katelyn Auty and Joshua McCrae are all students at Odyssey Charter School in Wilmington, Delaware, supported by their AP Human Geography teacher and Hope Street Group 2014–2015 National Teacher Fellow (now representing her state on the Teacher Advisory Council) Melissa Tracy. Follow Melissa’s teaching practice and some of her students’ advocacy via Twitter @lisslblair.
