Plastic

Is a Problem
Archaeologists rejoice over trash, especially heaps of it (referred to as middens). These artifacts from the past are a treasure trove of information about how an ancient (or not so ancient) culture lived and what the people valued.

My students have grown to have certain expectations about our class. They love science, and I love holidays. So naturally, their expectations for Earth Day were high. The hub-bub of anticipation began days beforehand. “What are we doing for Earth Day?” asked more than one eager student. The pressure was too much. I wasn’t sure what to do. Something with worms?

The children were excited about collecting trash, and I followed their lead. Anyone who wished donned a latex glove (Michael Jackson-style to conserve gloves and avoid waste). During recess, armed with a big bag,


our Earth Squad collected trash. We weren’t able to get it all, but they made a valiant effort.






Since science is our game, we took that trash back to the classroom for analysis. “You’re going to dig through the trash?” asked one incredulous student. Yes, I am. “I’ll get some gloves!” offered another, already on the way to the cabinet.

How could we classify this trash? "Shape." "Color." "What it's used for." "What it's made of." "Whether it’s recyclable." We decided to go with material because the type of material indicates recyclability. As we sorted, the evidence was building. Our playground is mostly littered with plastic. Plastic lids, plastic bags, plastic bottles, . . . the ubiquitous straw cover (You know—that clear plastic wrapper designed to seal all the bacterial badness away from your straw for the duration of its juicebox ride . . . until you break the straw free, leaving its plastic wormy skin to flutter to the ground, forlorn and forgotten. These are the bane of Mrs. D’s educator existence.)

We also found a colorful collection of plastic barrettes. "That’s because some girls at this school wear lots of barrettes and then they’re outside at recess jumping around and they slip off." Trash gives us clues about how people live.

The children pointed out that our trash bag and gloves also contributed plastic to the stash of trash. Yes, very true, but on occasion, I’ve spied some particularly unsavory bits of trash on the playground and believe me, gloves are in order.

The problem is plastic doesn't rot. This was especially evident in the Amazon Rainforest. The people who live along the Amazon River have developed a habit of throwing trash out the windows of their floating houses or over the sides of their floating school buses . . . This is all fine and good when the trash is food stuff or even paper--the vast river ecosystem will literally gobble it up. But now boatloads of soda bottles and other plastic wares are offloaded into the villages along the river . . . and people are still in the habit of throwing their trash into the river. Without recycling programs, there aren't many other good options. We're exporting our pollution problem.

I think future archaeologists will just be sad when they see our trash, maybe because of what it says about how we live and what we value (or don't) or maybe because they will have to catalog piles upon piles of plastic.

Hmm. Worms eat paper . . . .




What We're Reading:
Earth Day--Hooray! by Stuart Murphy
The Lorax by Dr. Seuss