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Cafeteria Culture presents
Microplastic Madness - the movie
Our award winning documentary & impact campaign - with kids taking the lead!

​20,000 viewers in 37 countries!
movie details  ->

Be inspired by youth to
take #plasticfree ACTION!

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 ZERO WASTE
PLASTIC FREE ACTION! 

"Community Science"
for ages 8 - 98!​​
Engage policy makers
on plastic pollution by collecting litter + data, then sharing it to
inform policy! 
Youth POV +action on climate, racial justice, human rights, policy, public school & more!
Straws by Request
IN NYC: Call Speaker Johnson.
Ask to bring NYC STRAW BY REQUEST bill (int 936)
up for a vote asap! details->
--Start a Straw-By-Request
campaign ​in your city!
More "TAKE ACTION!" -->
coming in Nov:
Break Free From Plastic Pollution Act
Youth "Teach-in" Guide!​
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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!"

More about Youth Advocates ->
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Free Educational Resources
 Remote Learning resources->

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 ->
ZERO WASTE TOOLS FOR SCHOOLS

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

Watch on Youtube ->; Watch on Vimeo ->​
​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 ->
NO-Styro Foam puppet

 Advocacy +  Victories
​youth taking the lead ⬇︎

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

​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!

 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
(about our Plastic Free Waters + Media program->)
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

“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
"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

"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."...
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

​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)

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

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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​

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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