This video by NowThis Earth breaks down plastic recycling, showing the true social and environmental costs of "recycling" some plastics.
Teaching Tips
Positives
This video outlines the environmental injustice of the global plastic recycling system. Much of the plastic that is "recycled" in the United States (except #1 and #2) is shipped to the Global South and may not be recycled.
This video is dynamic and features excellent graphics.
Additional Prerequisites
This may change the narrative in your classroom or school, showing that plastic recycling is not what you think it is.
Students can engage in any number of higher-priority climate actions at school, including advocating for more plant-based food, reducing food waste, or creating no-idle zones to reduce emissions from cars and buses.
One way to fix the broken plastic recycling system is simply to consume less plastic in the first place. So if students ask what they can do, suggest a personal action they can take for the climate: buy less stuff.
Differentiation
After students watch the video, students could pivot to a different environmental campaign, such as Meatless Mondays or the installation of School Hydration Stations.
Students could research local recycling systems to learn what can actually be recycled in their town.
Note that paper, cardboard, glass, and aluminum are recycled domestically and are very important to reduce our impacts on the planet. Students can look to purchase products made from 100% recycled material and can look for paper, glass, and aluminum as alternatives to plastic packaging/items.
Scientist Notes
The video explores the state of global recycling systems and the need to enact laws to stop plastic production and improve waste management. There is no contradiction in the video, and this is recommended for teaching.
Standards
Social Studies
Civics & Government
Civics & Government 1 (D2): Students understand the basic ideals, purposes, principles, structures, and processes of constitutional government in Maine and the United States as well as examples of other forms of government in the world by comparing how laws are made in Maine and at the federal level in the United States.
Personal Finance & Economics
Personal Finance (F1): Students understand the principles and processes of personal finance by explaining how scarcity influences choices and relates to the market economy.
