INNOVATIVE
​ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION
and ACTION

Working creatively with youth towards plastic free waters and
zero-waste, climate smart communities
through teaching citizen science, civic action, media and arts!

VICTORY! NYC styrofoam ban goes into effect with student action!

Help us to finish our movie
​and to share it with ALL schools for free
with our companion
​Plastic Free Waters Toolkit!

Let's inspire a national youth-led
PLASTIC FREE WATERS movement!

TAKE ACTION!
for #plasticfree, healthy oceans
​
Let's get plastic straws banned in NYC! ->
 Judge rules that NYC Foam Ban can move forward! ->
NY #BanTheBag action alert here->   ​
​​Be inspired by NYC youth to refuse single-use plastics!

Watch "Litter Monsters"  by 5th graders!

​Students in our programs debate, ask questions,collect data, and tell their powerful stories about plastic street litter that becomes toxic marine pollution. (more)
​Watch LITTER MONSTERS on Vimeo here ->

#noplasticstraws

500 million plastic straws used/day 
Join the campaign!

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 - Watch and share, DEAR HUMANS made 4th grade students

Watch "Dear Humans" on YouTube; Watch on Vimeo ->

Teach your students
​to sort recyclables and organics and to reduce waste
with this fun song!

Watch on Youtube ->; Watch on Vimeo ->
​

​Start a
​CAFETERIA RANGER program
at your school
8 steps
​with videos, signs, badges
and letter templates downloads,
all for free ->​

Watch on YouTube->; Watch on Vimeo ->
​See our NYC Cafeteria Rangers ->

SUBSCRIBE

​WATCH ALL OUR VIDEOS ON YOUTUBE here->

​WATCH ALL OUR VIDEOS ON VIMEO here ->

Youth-led
ADVOCACY and
​VICTORIES!

STYROFOAM OUT OF SCHOOLS
The ​11 largest US school districts did it.
​  ​Your school can too!

​Cafeteria Culture's 
STYROFOAM OUT OF SCHOOLS campaign
catalyzed the complete elimination
of foam trays from NYC schools
This led to a co-purchasing agreement with
1o US urban school districts.
NYC, LA, Chicago, Miami, Orlando, and Dallas
divert 1/2 a BILLION foam trays per year 
from landfills, incinerators, and student meals! ​

​Foam is finally banned in NYC!

NYC  was sued twice industry, who tried to block the foam ban,
but one week after our Youth Rally To Ban Foam  at NY City Hall,
on World Oceans Day (May 30, 2018), the judge announced
that the  NYC ban could move forward!

Thank you student advocates for taking action!

Youth Rally to Ban Foam - PS 15 K students with polluting foam that they collected at Jamaica Bay in Queens

Toxic and polluting plastic styrofoam
​contaminates our oceans, wildlife and bodies!

NY Bag Bill
TAKE ACTION now!
NYC Council voted YES,
on the #BYObag bill,  
but some NY State Policymakers
​blocked  the bill.
Call your NY State Senator and Assembly member (info here ->)

NEST+m 3rd graders at New York City Hall Bag Bill Rally, April 2016

Read the latest update here and TAKE ACTION

Tompkins Square Middle School student, Rebeca, asking NYC Council to vote "yes" for the bag fee (April 2016, City Hall).

MS246 K Walt Whitman students, Shazia, Rachel, Nerlande, & Tiana, speaking personally and passionately on NYC plastic litter with NYC Councilmember Lander (April 2016, City Hall).

School Programs
citizen science, civic action, media and arts
for plastic free waters and a zero waste, future

Community Arts+Media
for
Trash Free Waters

Plastic
Free Waters​

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

​International
school partnership 
 to reduce marine litter

Watch on Vimeo->

Zero Waste Cafeterias  
 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 ->
CONTACT US to find out how to bring ARTS+ACTION to your school.

Arts, Media and Civic Action
Students lead on the NYC bag bill

Watch on Youtube -> ; Watch on Vimeo ->
PS34 5th graders from ourARTS+MEDIA for Climate Action program take action on NYC's plastic bag problem, then TAKE ACTION here! 

Support environmental-STEaM, education in underserved public schools

AWARDS

CafCu + 99 international sustainability innovation

Youth-made Impact Videos
learn more about Plastic Free Waters here ->

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->

Your tax-deductible donation supports innovation,
education, and inspiration to achieve more zero waste grassroots-led victories!

read THE LATEST  here ->

In the News!

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Cafeteria Rangers Are Learning How to Reduce School Waste  
WNCY.org, April 23, 2018
Cafeteria Rangers from PS 188 the Island School and Shumita Basu, WNYC.org - Morning Edition

"I like it because we're helping the universe and we're being responsible."

For #EarthDay2018, I spoke to kids who are #CafeteriaRangers at PS188 about how they're learning to sort recyclables/compostables/trash in their lunchrooms. @CafeteriaCu @WNYChttps://t.co/8VDhbS3b6q

— Shumita Basu (@shubasu) April 23, 2018

Ecowatch:
Ditch Plastic Lunches: Stand Up for Zero-Waste Schools
Marcus Eriksen, Nov. 20, 2017

(excerpts)
Styrene likely isn't good for our children's bodies either. There are several studies that show styrene can migrate from packaging to food. But what of the multi-year, daily exposures children have to polystyrene products in the cafeteria? 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." Hint to future researchers, there's a PhD thesis in evaluating the K-12 styrene exposure experiment underway on millions of U.S. kids...
​
Cafeteria Culture has launched "Sort2Save," a tool kit for schools to go zero waste, with a step-by-step guide to get it done. Can you hear the school bell ringing? It's time to practice what we teach.

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Virgin Airlines blog features Cafeteria Culture

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

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Accolades!

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Fifth grade students from PS 15 Patrick F Daly testified 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

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At the March, 2018 Plastic Free Waters Partnership meeting, 5th graders from PS 15 Patrick F Daly participated on the panel, Environmental Justice and Plastics, in a packed full room of 74 attendees at the US EPA Region 2 offices

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PS/MS34 M - Cafcu students
presented to delegates from China

The US State Department and the US EPA invited Cafeteria Culture and our students to present to delegates from China on community-based, upstream solutions to reduce plastic street litter, which contributes to a rapidly increasing global marine pollution plight.

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Cafeteria Culture at the
United Nations

Cafeteria Culture Executive Director, Debby Lee Cohen (top) and Media Director, Atsuko Quirk (bottom) presented at the United Nations Headquarters in NYC in June 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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Stay up to date

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JAPAN - ZERO WASTE INSPIRATION

SCHOOL LUNCH IN JAPAN
directed by Atsuko Quirk,
CafCu's Media Director
21 MILLION VIEWS ​
​on YouTube!

WATCH MORE CAFCU MOVIES ->

​CONTACT US FOR MORE INFORMATION