Working creatively with youth to achieve zero waste, climate-smart communities and a plastic free biosphere.
Cafeteria Culture
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    • MICROPLASTIC MADNESS
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    • Recipe for #plasticfree Change
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      • NO-SEW T-SHIRT BAG +mask
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        • Crossword Puzzle MPmad
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    • TAKE ZERO WASTE ACTION
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      • DATA +ACTION litter clean up
      • Student and Teacher Litter Data Collection
    • Plastic Free Lunch Day
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    • NYC Foam Ban >
      • Foam Trays Out of Schools
      • Trayless Tuesdays
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      • No-Styro Puppets
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Cafeteria Culture presents
Microplastic Madness - the movie
Our award winning documentary & impact campaign - with kids taking the lead!

​23,000 viewers in 37 countries!
Share this uplifting, take action movie with your school/group->

movie details  ->

Be inspired by youth to
take #plasticfree ACTION!

EARTH DAY/WEEK SCREENING!
**watch for free all week**

Sunday, April 18 - Friday, April 23
MICROPLASTIC MADNESS

free on YouTube at CafCu Media


HOST A SCREENING

Spanish,  English and Japanese  subtitled versions available

Free for Title One schools
FREE ​REMOTE LEARNING RESOURCES --->
​

マイクロプラスチック・ストーリー  〜ぼくらが作る2050年〜
In Japan? Host a screening ->
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TAKE ACTION!

Urge your U.S. Member of Congress
to support the
Break Free From Plastic Pollution Act

Learn about this groundbreaking legislation ->
the PLASTIC POLLUTION PROBLEM ->
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"Community Science"
for ages 8 - 98!​​

Engage policy makers
on plastic pollution by collecting litter + data & sharing it to
inform policy! 
Straws by Request
Ask to bring NYC STRAWS BY REQUEST bill (int 936)
up for a vote asap! details->

--Start a Straw-By-Request
campaign ​in your city!
Straw litter Red Hook Brooklyn

more ZERO WASTE,
 PLASTIC FREE ACTIONS! 

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CafCu
​ Youth Advocates 

middle and high school after school program

see: Youth Action
on Plastic Pollution

NYC YOUTH CLIMATE STRIKE 9/20  
 ​Rebeca Sabnam,
16 year old CafCu Youth Advocate,

 at the Youth #ClimateStrikeNYC 9/20!
​

​"Human greed is fueling our oceans with the power to wipe Bangladesh off the map. We’re almost out of time!"

Cafcu Youth Advocates 
leading the way on
NY #plasticfree victories!
-
New York State passes bag ban & 
​NYC passes bag fee!
 ->​

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​ 
NYC Foam Ban goes into effect ->​

NYC Styrofoam Ban begins - students celebrate with Mayor and Commissioner from Cafeteria Culture on Vimeo.

Let's get plastic straws banned in NYC! ->​
LISTEN TO YOUTH!
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Youth POV +action on climate, racial justice, human rights, policy, public school & more!
More about Youth Advocates ->
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Free Educational Resources
 Remote Learning resources->

TRASH FREE WATERS local action, global impact
TOOLKIT
for a plastic free future
 (grades 4 - 8)

Teachers - sign up here
 Watch & share LITTER MONSTERS,  made by 5th grade students
Watch "Litter Monsters" on YouTube; Watch on Vimeo ->​

Be inspired by NYC youth to
#BeatPlasticPollution
Watch & share "Got Reusable Bags..." 7th grade students in Flatbush
Watch: "Got Reusable Bags?" on Vimeo -> ; be inspired by 7th grade students from MS 246 Walt Whitman in E. Flatbush, Brooklyn!
​See more movies ->
SORT 2 SAVE
ZERO WASTE TOOLS FOR SCHOOLS

Students take on cafeteria leadership roles 
​to oversee waste reduction,
recycling, and composting,


Watch on Youtube ->; Watch on Vimeo ->​
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​Start a CAFETERIA RANGER Program 
- videos and free downloads ->​
Watch on YouTube->; Watch on Vimeo ->​
​

Educators from around the world
are using our movies and toolkits
in classrooms, cafeterias, communities
​and now as part of distance learning.
​Find out why! ​⬇︎
FOLLOW US FOR UPDATES!
​WATCH ALL OUR VIDEOS ON YOUTUBE here->
​WATCH ALL OUR VIDEOS ON VIMEO here ->
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NO-Styro Foam puppet

 Youth-led
Advocacy +  Victories

​ STYROFOAM OUT OF SCHOOLS
11 U.S. school districts did it.
​  ​Your school can too!

school food compostable plate. NYC + Urban School Food Alliance
​Cafeteria Culture's 
STYROFOAM OUT OF SCHOOLS
campaign
catalyzed the complete elimination
of plastic foam trays from NYC schools,

leading to a co-purchasing agreement with
10 large US urban school districts, and

diverting 1/2  BILLION foam trays per year 
from landfills, incinerators, and student meals! 
​
Cafcu 5th grade student advocates
take action
to ban plastic foam in NYC!

.Just one week after the Youth Rally To Ban Foam  at NY City Hall,
judge announces NYC foam ban can move forward (2018)
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Youth Rally to Ban Foam- PS 15 K students show polluting polystyrene foam (styrofoam) they collected at Jamaica Bay, Queens.

New York Bans Plastic Bags
NY bag bill enforcement started Oct 19, 2020
Students in our programs collected litter + data, debated issues, engaged council members, and gave out thousands of reusable bags while educating neighbors... for 5 years!  (more ->)

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Shahzia, Rachel, Nerlande and Taina, 8th grade students, MS 246 Walt Whitman, at NY City Hall with Council Member Brad Lander, speaking on plastic litter. (2016)
NYC Bag Bill Rally - NEST 3rd graders
NEST+m 3rd graders at New York City Hall Bag Bill Rally, April 2016

PS34M 5th grade students leading on the NYC bag bill ⬇︎ 

Watch on Youtube -> ; Watch on Vimeo ->

Please donate
for innovative zero waste,
plastic free, climate education
for under-resourced schools and communities!

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School Programs
Free Remote Learning resources ->

INNOVATIVE ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION
and ACTION

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Community Arts+Media
for Plastic Free Waters ->

Middle School
PlasticFree Waters​ ->

Watch on YouTube->; Watch on Vimeo ->​

Tokyo/NYC school
partnership programs

Watch on Vimeo->

ZERO WASTE CAFETERIAS 
and school communities

Youth lead zero waste pilots, audits and outreach
to scale up plastic free initiatives.

A recipe for change!
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PLASTIC FREE LUNCH DAY - how-to guide

 Cafeteria Rangers 
and Make Change Messaging 

Watch on Youtube ->; Watch on Vimeo ->
ARTS+ACTION school programs - creative hands-on learning, student leadership, plus teaching the WHY with HOW! learn more ->
ZERO WASTE INSPIRATION FROM JAPAN

SCHOOL LUNCH IN JAPAN 
directed by Atsuko Quirk,
Cafeteria Culture Media Director

30 MILLION VIEWS ​on YouTube!!

WATCH MORE CAFCU MOVIES ->
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Youth-made Impact Videos
(our Plastic Free Waters + Media school programs->)
more youth made videos on our YouTube channel ->

SUBSCRIBE

The Story of Aliana and Joe - plastic in fish?

Watch on YouTube; Watch ​on Vimeo->

Journey of Plastic Litter  

Watch on YouTube; Watch ​on Vimeo->
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Your tax-deductible donation supports innovative
zero waste, plastic free, and climate education, 

​
in under resourced schools.
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In the News


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“I’ve learned a lot of things, not just the cycle of Styrofoam and plastics,” Dalencour told the RHSR.  ​“I’ve also learned how to communicate with my peers better; I was kind of quiet, but it gave me a way to open up.”   (read more ->)



​WNCY.org, April 23, 2018
Cafeteria Rangers Are Learning How to Reduce School Waste  
Cafeteria Rangers from PS 188 the Island School spoke with WNYC report Shumita Basu for Earth Day! WNYC.org - Morning Edition
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"I like it because we're helping the universe and we're being responsible."

Ecowatch:
Ditch Plastic Lunches: Stand Up for Zero-Waste Schools

Marcus Eriksen, Nov. 20, 2017

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"Debby Lee Cohen, executive director and founder of Cafeteria Culture, explained "Yet the long term effects of hot food served daily to children, directly onto trays made of the chemical styrene—sometimes 3 times per day and over a 13-year period—has yet to be studied."...

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Every day, “Cafeteria Rangers” appointed from the student body oversee the post-lunch recycling and sorting of food scraps and packaging....students also practise communication and leadership skills, and design arts and media based advocacy campaigns, such as giant puppets and video shorts. (Virgin Air, read more ->)

Accolades


MICROPLASTIC MADNESS wins Greenpoint Film Festival Grand Jury Award!   September, 2020
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​Fifth grade students from PS 15 Patrick F Daly testify at a New York City Council hearing on wastewater treatment.
Watch: Kids Exercise Democracy! 5th graders testify at City Hall on plastic litter and wastewater

PS 15 Patrick F Daly 5th graders speak at the US EPA Region 2 on environmental justice and plastic pollution. (March, 2018)
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PS/MS34 M - Cafcu students
present to delegates from China

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The US State Department and EPA invited Cafeteria Culture and our students to present to delegates from China on community-based, upstream solutions to reduce plastic street litter.

Cafeteria Culture at the
United Nations

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Cafeteria Culture Executive Director, Debby Lee Cohen and Media Director, Atsuko Quirk present at the United Nations Headquarters in NYC as part of the 17th Meeting of the UN Open-ended Informal Consultative Process on Oceans and the Law of the Sea (ICP-17) - Marine Debris, Plastics and Microplastics.
​

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FOLLOW US FOR UPDATES!
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​WATCH OUR VIDEOS ON VIMEO 
​

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Working creatively with youth to achieve equitable zero-waste, 
​climate-smart school communities,
​and a plastic free biosphere,

merging citizen science, civic action, media and the arts!

(see our award winning movie, MicroplasticMadness..org) 


​CONTACT US FOR MORE INFORMATION


Cafeteria Culture (CafCu) is a Project of The Fund for the City of New York, a charitable organization.
Founded in 2009 as Styrofoam Out of Schools.
Donations to Cafeteria Culture are eligible for charitable deductions under section 170 of the Internal Revenue Code.
Cafeteria Culture is a vendor of New York City Department of Education via Fund for the City of New York

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VISION
We envision a plastic free, equitable zero waste future where landfill and incinerator garbage as we know it no longer exists;
where post consumption waste from food to packaging is drastically reduced
and what remains benefits our schools, communities, and the environment. 

Copyright © 2020 Cafeteria Culture