The Problem
Our 4th grade students are trying to help the endangered sea turtles and sharks in the oceans. One of the biggest problems they face is trash being dumped into the water and onto the beaches. Plastic and Styrofoam waste is very dangerous to the wildlife in the oceans. These animals mistake these items for food and end up getting poisoned after ingesting these toxic items. We have a huge problem in our school with the use of Styrofoam trays. Every student in the school uses a Styrofoam tray for breakfast and lunch every day and throw it away. Our school fills one dumpster each day and has to have the garbage picked up daily. Multiply this by the 5 schools on campus! We are contributing to the landfills way too much and are trying to find biodegradable alternatives or would like to raise money to purchase reusable trays. We also want to start a recycling and repurposing program at our school to collect trash and make them into useful items, such as furniture. We would like to educate the public on what they can do to reduce the trash in our community.
