Keep It Green!

Help students understand the environmental impact of plastic waste, assess their school supplies for plastic use, and explore eco-friendly alternatives.

45 minutes

- Examples of plastic school supplies (pens, plastic covers, etc.)
- Examples of eco-friendly alternatives (wooden pencils, recycled notebooks, etc.)
- A video or slides about plastic waste
- Poster for the class pledge

In this lesson, students will evaluate their own school supplies and learn how these can be harmful to the environment. Finally eco-friendly alternatives to traditional school supplies will be introduced.

Step by step:

1. Introduction (5 minutes)
Objective: Introduce the topic and capture students' interest.
Activity:
Start with a Question: "How many of you have something plastic in your pencil case or backpack right now?"
Discussion: Briefly discuss how common plastic is in everyday items and how it’s convenient but can harm the environment.
Visual Aid:
Show a few common plastic items (like a plastic pen, plastic-covered notebook, etc.) and explain that these items often end up as waste.

2. The Journey of Plastic (10 minutes)
Objective: Explain what happens to plastic waste and its environmental impact.
Content:
How Plastic is Made: Briefly explain that plastic is made from oil and natural gas, which are non-renewable resources.
Plastic Waste: Describe what happens when plastic is thrown away—mention landfills, oceans, and how plastic doesn't decompose easily. 
Environmental Impact: Talk about how plastic waste can harm animals and pollute our planet. Use simple, age-appropriate language.
Facts: According to the European Environment Agency (EEA), Europe generated about 29 million tons of plastic waste in 2020. This includes plastic used for school supplies, such as stationery (pens, markers, rulers, binders with mostly a short lifespan), plastic packaging, books and notebooks (though often paper-based, many notebooks use plastic covers or spiral bindings, contributing to plastic waste) and electronic devices (increasingly, school supplies include electronic gadgets like calculators, USB sticks, and tablets, which have plastic components). 
Visual Aid:
Video/Slides: Show a short video or a series of slides that illustrate the life cycle of plastic and its impact on wildlife (e.g., images of turtles trapped in plastic, plastic bottles on the beach).
Interactive Element:
Ask students if they’ve seen plastic waste in nature, like at the park or the beach. Encourage them to share their experiences.

3. Checking Our School Supplies (10 minutes)
Objective: Encourage students to identify plastic items in their own school supplies.
Activity:
Supplies Check: Ask students to take out their pencil cases, backpacks, or desks and make a list of items that contain plastic. This could include pens, notebooks with plastic covers, rulers, etc.
Group Discussion: After a few minutes, ask students to share what they found. Write the common plastic items on the board.
Reflection:
Ask: “How do you feel about using so many plastic items now that you know where they end up?”

4. Green Alternatives (10 minutes)
Objective: Introduce eco-friendly alternatives to plastic school supplies.
Content:
Sustainable Materials: Talk about materials that are better for the environment, like:
•    Wooden pencils instead of plastic pens.
•    Recycled paper notebooks instead of plastic-covered ones.
•    Metal or wooden rulers instead of plastic ones.
•    Cloth pencil cases instead of plastic ones.
•    Refillable pens that reduce waste.
Buying Choices: Explain how choosing these items can help reduce plastic waste.
Interactive Element:
Show and Tell: If possible, bring some examples of these eco-friendly products to class and let the students see and touch them.
Discussion:
Ask: “Which of these green alternatives would you like to try next time you buy school supplies?”

5. Pledge and Wrap-Up (10 minutes)
Objective: Conclude the lesson by empowering students to make a change.
Activity:
Class Pledge: Have the class come up with a simple pledge to reduce plastic use. For example, “We promise to choose eco-friendly school supplies whenever we can.”
Sign the Pledge: Each student can sign a class poster with the pledge written on it. This can be displayed in the classroom as a reminder.

Final Thoughts:

Recap: Summarize the key points: the problem with plastic, the importance of reducing waste, and the power of making greener choices.

Encouragement: Encourage students to talk to their parents about buying eco-friendly school supplies.

Homework/Extension:

Home Activity: Ask students to look for plastic items at home and discuss with their family how they might replace them with greener options.

Creative Task: Students could draw a picture of their ideal eco-friendly school supply kit and share it with the class the next day.
 

- Science and Environmental Studies: This lesson can be part of units on environmental science, ecology, or sustainability. It helps students understand the environmental impact of plastic waste and explore sustainable alternatives; keywords: the impact of plastic waste on ecosystems and wildlife, lifecycle of plastic products and their environmental footprint, benefits of choosing eco-friendly materials

- Social Studies and Citizenship: Use this lesson in social studies to discuss global issues related to plastic pollution and waste management. It provides context on how plastic waste affects communities and the importance of responsible consumption; keywords: global impact of plastic pollution, social and ethical implications of plastic use, global and local initiatives to reduce plastic waste

- Mathematics and Data Analysis: Incorporate the lesson into math classes by analyzing data related to plastic waste and comparing the environmental impact of different school supplies. Students can work on projects involving statistics, charts, and graphs; keywords: data on plastic waste generation and recycling rates, mathematical tools to compare the environmental impact of different materials, visual representations of data to support sustainability efforts 

- Art and Design: Include the lesson in art and design classes where students can create art projects using recycled materials or design eco-friendly school supplies. This encourages creativity and practical application of sustainability concepts; keywords: Designing and creating art projects using recycled or upcycled materials, exploring sustainable design principles for school supplies, developing creative solutions for reducing plastic use in everyday items