Schools play a crucial role in educating young people about environmental issues and inspiring them to take action. By introducing hands-on activities and engaging in environmental stewardship, some students are working to make a real difference in educating a group of elementary students about Earth Day and environmental awareness.

"I want our community and world to be better by making a difference together,” said Alice, a sixth-grader at Bennett Elementary School.

Sixth-grade student leaders at Bennett Elementary School educated their peers in grades four through six about climate change and the need to recycle more plastic film. As a result, these students gave up recess to create a nearly six-foot monster-looking figure.

“We want to show kids how harmful straws, bottles, and litter are, and how we should stop using them,” said sixth grader Oliver Haas. “This is to show them how to make a difference and stop this global crisis.”

This lesson aimed to help students and teachers understand the single-stream recycling process and why plastic film isn’t included. Many are unsure of how to dispose of this kind of plastic. Therefore, it ends up in landfills and compounds global warming, or it gets blown into waterways, eventually ending up in our oceans and endangering marine wildlife. 

"We are actually getting an eighth continent. It is made up of plastic and washes up on the coast," said sixth grader Fiona.

By making the information fun and understandable, the teachers found a solution and entered the students into a nationwide recycling challenge to collect and recycle as much plastic as possible with the TREX Company, a leading poly lumber company that makes outside decks and furniture from this kind of plastic. 

"Kids at a very young age want to be involved in the conversation,” Onteora School District teacher Karen Hadley said. "If we deliver the truth in developmental doses, kids will be able to handle it, especially when it comes to important issues like climate change." 

This group of students says they are passionate about climate change and sustainability and believes that their efforts of today will make for a safer tomorrow.

"I hope that future generations understand that plastic is bad for our environment and animals and that they can recycle more," said sixth grader Hanna Metawee.