The Problem
Plastic Pollution From Stationery
Our Plan
Collaborate with schools to reduce plastic stationary wastage by collecting the plastic markers, pens, pencils, etc. We will then send all of the plastic stationary collected to TerraCycle and ColorCycle, both of which are recycling organizations or campaigns.
Themes Addressed
-
Education
![term icon]()
-
Pollution
![term icon]()
-
Recycle
![term icon]()
-
Zero Waste
![term icon]()
The Benefit
-
Environment
![term icon]()
Here is how the project went:
We collected over 500+ markers, pens, pencils and sent them to ColorCycle and TerraCycle. We reduced the plastic waste at our schools tremendously. We also created an Instagram Account to advocate for less waste in schools.
Through this project I/we learned:
We learned how to work together. We had to divide up the work equally and be dependable. We also learned a lot about recycling and how to recycle (how some materials like glass are not great to recycle and how they have to separate out the ink from pens first because it can be a mixed material).
What I/we might change:
We might change how we advertised the project. We just set up some flyers around the school and spoke with the teachers about this, but we didn't get the students as involved. We could have put on a presentation about the importance of recycling, but the project was still a success because many teachers made it mandatory for students to put used plastic stationary in our bin.
My/our favorite part of this project was:
My favorite part was seeing the growth of our project. At first, we were going to different teachers and speaking about the project, but soon enough the teachers and students were asking us about how they could become more involved in our mission and change how much waste they generate.
Some tips, tricks or fun facts about the project:
I would say to talk to the head or administration of the school, so they could make it more universal for everyone in the school to follow the project. Also, I would recommend to make the process more exciting for especially the younger students (ie they get a prize for giving all of their used markers to Change Cycle by the end of the school year)
