Teen activism leads to local laws banning single-use plastics: a two-year experiential learning journey
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Burke et al. Sustainable Earth (2020) 3:15 https://doi.org/10.1186/s42055-020-00035-0
COMMENTARY
Open Access
Teen activism leads to local laws banning single-use plastics: a two-year experiential learning journey Eleanor Burke1* , Christopher Ciano Collins1, Lucy Bergeron1 and Kara Lavender Law2
Abstract This paper recounts the two-year journey of an eight-member public Massachusetts high school environmental club that set out to decrease their local community’s consumption of single-use plastics. In the academic years 2016–2018, launched by a presentation by co-author Dr. Kara Lavender Law, the students wrestled with the global problem of plastic environmental debris within their local sphere of influence. They petitioned town government to regulate against local merchants’ dispensing thin-film plastic bags or selling single-use plastic water bottles < 1 L in size. The journey called upon them to participate in the democratic process, and through it to inform the citizenry, entertain opposing viewpoints, counter strident opposition with facts, enlist allies, and build broad consensus. After a two-year process, the project arrived at a successful result. They learned through experience that with tenacity, they could make democracy work for their ethical ideals. Keywords: Sustainability, Youth activism, Experiential learning, Plastic reduction, Environmental regulation, Environmental ethics
Introduction “Marine debris is a global problem that requires collaborative solutions on both a global and local scale. There is no part of the world left untouched by marine debris and its impacts.” (6IMDC 2018)
The problem of plastic marine debris
Marine debris, and notably debris composed of plastics, is recognized as a major environmental problem, as evidenced by its inclusion in international policy agendas from bodies including the UN, G7, G20 and the European Commission, as well as from many national, state and local governments. The concern is mainly on plastic debris because of the characteristics of these materials, namely: resistance to degradation and, thus, longevity in * Correspondence: [email protected] 1 Lincoln-Sudbury High School, Sudbury, MA, USA Full list of author information is available at the end of the article
the environment; light weight, which allows plastic debris to be carried long distances by winds or in water; and harmful chemicals associated with plastics that are either incorporated during manufacture (e.g., as additives) or that are taken up by plastics from seawater (e.g., longlived DDT or PCBs). Among the most common forms of plastic debris, thin film plastic bags and one-use plastic water bottles are an unsustainable scourge for landfills, waterways, the world’s oceans and aquatic life. The singleuse grocery bags we see on tree branches and fences, the “disposable” water bottles jammed in the storm grates on our streets, and the microbeads in our facial soaps are all examples of items comprising an estimated eight million metric tons of plastic waste that makes its way t
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