Blog Posts

Lights, Camera, Civic Action!

11/21/2016

PS/MS34 M students presented their LITTER MONSTERS stop motion animation video and explained how the Cafeteria Ranger program works to Chinese delegates during their visit to NYC (November 11, 2016)

Our students are leaders!

Cafeteria Culture and our students from PS/MS 34 M were honored to be asked by the US State Department and the Environmental Protection Agency to showcase our work to a group of 10 delegates from China. The group visited NYC as part of a joint US-China effort to reduce marine litter pollution. After touring wastewater treatment plants and recycling facilities, the delegates visited with two local community organizations, including Cafeteria Culture.

Our student leaders charmed the visitors, sharing their point of view on upstream, youth-based solutions for reducing plastic street litter and keeping it out of our oceans. They also presented the premier screening of ,"LITTER MONSTERS," their stop-motion/live action student-made short, coming soon to YouTube!

Our students are concerned advocates!

Students from Cafeteria Culture's Youth Media for Trash Free Waters Program at MS246 Walt Whitman spoke knowledgeably and passionately at a Press Conference on Flatbush Ave. about plastic street litter. Students explained to community leaders and government officials how this local problem is negatively impacting the health of our oceans, marine wildlife and our seafood chain, then asked for more curbside recycling bins for their neighborhood.

Watch their amazing youth POV #trashfreewaters videos here! Get inspired and take action!
Thank you, US Environmental Protection Agency, Region 2, for generously funding the Youth Media for Trash Free Waters Program at MS246.

MS 246 Walt Whitman alumni from Cafeteria Culture's Youth Media Trash Free Waters program (Nerlande and Shazia pictured in the front) spoke at a Brooklyn Press Conference with NY City Councilmember Eugene, NYC Department of Sanitation officials, and Flatbush community leaders and business owners (June, 2016)

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SORT2SAVE kit is here! Start a Cafeteria Ranger program today with our online toolkit. It's FREE!

9/25/2016

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Have you been wanting to start a school cafeteria recycling program but can't get past the first step? We know the chaallenges and we have the perfect resource, SORT2save.org. It's fun, it's free and now is an excellent time of the school year of to start a student-led Cafeteria Ranger program.
Get started with these 8 steps!

SORT2save school cafeteria recylcing and composting

The SORT2SAVE KIT - Cafeteria Ranger Program is hands-on service learning and student leadership in the cafeteria. Students oversee all recycling and sorting on a rotating schedule. All students can participate.
Make your school's zero waste intiative fun - in 8 steps!

The SORT2SAVE KIT includes "edu-taing" videos (on YouTube, on Vimeo, or on our S2s video page here->), kid friendly signs, Ranger badges, introduction letter/email templates for teachers and parents, and so much more!

Watch the SORT2save how-to videos YouTube here!

Here are just a few of the benefits that typically result from a Cafeteria Ranger program:
- A significant reduction of your school's cafeteria garbage due to improved sorting
- Increased awareness of the benefits of recycling, composting, and reduction
- Provides new leadership pportunities for students during school meal time
- Saves custodian and school food staff labor time by reducing the overall number of bags being pulled from garbage and recycling bins
- Fewer plastic bags are used, whih means saving money and resources, as well as reducing the amount of plastic that is going to landfills and incinerators
- A cleaner cafeteria floor, which saves custodians and school food staff time
- Improvement of the overall quality of the cafeteria experience
- An excellent starting point that leads to infusing a zero waste culture school wide!

Get started at SORT2save.org!

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NEST+m, our new partner school, wins a 2016 Super Recyclers - Golden Apple Award!

6/22/2016

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A huge congratulations to our new partner school, NEST+m, for winning a 2016 Super Recyclers - Golden Apple Award! We are very proud of NEST+m's collaborative efforts on working towards a zero waste school. In January 2016, this K-12 NYC Department of Education school reduced their daily cafeteria garbage from 350 pounds (30 bags) to less than 9 pounds (2 bags) per day by implementing our Cafeteria Ranger Program. Students learned the why and the how of sorting and waste reduction and took on daily leadership roles in the cafeteria.

Ms. Wilen's 3rd grade class also took on dedicated advocacy and action leadership roles, not only to reduce school garbage but, to reduce local land-based ‪plastic litter that becomes global ocean pollution.

Thank you to the NEST+m PTA for generously supporting Cafeteria Culture's Arts+Action Zero Waste Schools program at NEST+m!"New Explorations into Science Technology and Math (NEST+m) is unique because it is the only K - 12 public school located in Manhattan. NEST + m collaborated with Cafeteria Culture to jump start its recycling program with the K-5 students as leaders. The strength of this program is that it teaches the whys and hows of recycling and that the K-5 students are very enthusiastic participants."

"New Explorations into Science Technology and Math (NEST+m) is unique because it is the only K - 12 public school located in Manhattan. NEST + m collaborated with Cafeteria Culture to jump start its recycling program with the K-5 students as leaders. The strength of this program is that it teaches the whys and hows of recycling and that the K-5 students are very enthusiastic participants."
(read more here ->)

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Cafeteria Culture Presents at the United Nations

6/16/2016

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Cafeteria Culture Executive Director, Debby Lee Cohen (left photo, in center) and Media Director, Atsuko Quirk (bottom photo, waving) were honored to present at the United Nations Headquarters in NYC on Wednesday, June 15th as part of the 17th Meeting of the United Nations Open-ended Informal Consultative Process on Oceans and the Law of the Sea (ICP-17) - Marine Debris, Plastics and Microplastics.

Our presentation was titled:
Partnering with urban youth on upstream solutions, civic action, media and messaging to reduce plastic marine debris and microplastics.

We were thrilled to be able to share our plastic pollution reduction efforts with the distinguished UN delegates from all over the world - accomplishments made possible by our partnerships with incredible NYC public school students, teachers, school communities, and government agencies that we have worked with on reducing plastic litter in NYC!

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"The Journey of Plastic Litter"- created by 8th grade students! First in our new #TrashFreeWaters video series

6/10/2016

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Brooklyn 8th grade students have been working hard behind the scenes on The Journey of Plastic Litter. They studied the issues, storyboarded their concepts, created artwork for animation, and did a fabulous job editing with charming sound effects!

As part of Cafeteria Culture's Youth Arts + Media for Trash Free Waters Program at MS246 Walt Whitman, in East Flatbush, Brooklyn, students from class 804 created a series of short documentary videos on the local and global issues of plastic marine pollution.

Watch the Journey of Plastic Litter, the first in the series, and subscribe to our YouTube Channel, CafCu Media! We will be posting new #TrashFreeWaters videos all month long. These shorts with their fresh youth-POV are not to be missed!

Get inspired then, take action for #TrashFreeWaters. Action Alert on the NYC #BYObag bill here->
Thank you for watching and sharing!

Cafeteria Culture's YOUTH ARTS + MEDIA for TRASH FREE WATERS School Program (2016) has been generously funded by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Region 2, Sustainable Materials Management Section, CASD. Cafeteria Culture is most appreciative of additional support via our UL Innovative Education Award (2015) and The Fund for the City of New York.

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NYC votes YES on Intro 209-A, the bag fee bill, 28 - 20! Thank you NYC Council Members, youth advocates, and the many organizations who worked together to win this victory!

5/5/2016

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NYC Council passed the #BYObag bill, 28-20!
We are so very proud of our CafCu students in grades 3-8, who creatively advocated for this bill and helped to achieve this landmark environmental victory!

Students from our partner schools, MS246 Walt Whitman, NEST+m, Tompkins Sqaure Middle School, and the Earth School, along with students from the Hewitt School, spoke up at City Hall, asking City Council members to pass NYC's Plastic Bag Bill! Let's get this bill passed before Earth Day! (NYC, April 13, 2016

read
A HUGE THANK YOU to City Councilman Brad Lander and Councilwoman Margaret Chin, co-sponsors of the bag bill - INTRO 209A. Thank you to Councilwoman Rosie Mendez, who listened to the informed bag bill opinions of 5th graders from 3 schools in her district during CafCu's roundtable meeting in January, 2015.

Thank you to all of partner teachers and principals, who worked with us on the bag bill curriculum, allowing students to debate this important issue.

Thank you to our donors, volunteers, and funders!

And thank you to Jennie Romer and to all the partner organizations who worked together to get this landmark bill passed, including Citizens Committee for NYC, National Resource Defense Council NYC, New York League of Conservation Voters, BagItNYC.org, NY/NJ BayKeepers, and the Manhattan Solid Waste Advisory Board. Thank you Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer and Public Advocate Letitia James for your support!

UPDATE
The plastic bag industry is not giving up and we need you to take action!
More on NYC's bag bill here ->

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Watch this Video from 26 inspiring young filmmakers - #SaveACritter

4/16/2016

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Watch our latest co-created video and get inspired to take action for a TRASH FREE NYC and world! Then share this video with the hashtag #SaveACritter.

Cafeteria Culture is teaching our unique curriculum, YOUTH MEDIA + ARTS for TRASH FREE WATERS, to rising 8th grade filmmakers at MS246 Walt Whitman in East Flatbush, Brooklyn.

We are empowering students with cameras and storytelling skills to think critically about real world environmental problems and to instigate their own Trash Free Waters messaging for their communities and for the entire world! Students are debating, asking questions, and telling their own powerful stories about how street litter becomes toxic marine pollution.
Help us by sharing this video! Use #SaveACritter today, tomorrow and all week long!

Watch the video on Vimeo here.

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"SORT2save cheer!" - our latest music video for teaching K-6 students how to recycle and compost in the cafeteria

11/3/2015

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Drum roll please. The first SORT2save how-to video is here! Create a culture of zero waste in your cafeteria while making change fun - for everyone!

The SORT2save cheer! is a fun and easy way to teach students and staff how to correctly sort food scraps and packaging for a zero waste, healthy future.  Teachers, share with your students. Students, share with your teachers. Share it with everyone!

NEXT UP in the SORT2save (S2s) series:
CAFETERIA RANGERS - YOUR SCHOOL CAN DO IT!

SIGN UP HERE to receive a downloadable PDF of the SORT2save cheer!  lyrics and be the first to know when the next video in the S2s series is posted.

At school? Watch the SORT2save cheer!  video on Vimeo here ->.
Watch the SORT2save cheer! video on YouTube here ->.

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We won a UL Innovative Education Award to Advance Environmental and Stem Education!

9/7/2015

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We are thrilled to announce that Cafeteria Culture was selected as a winner of the inaugural UL Innovative Education Award! As a tier 2 winner, we received a $50,000 ward from UL (Underwriters Laboratories) and NAAEE (North America Association for Environmental Education) to expand our ARTS+ACTION Program!!! We'll get to work closely with the incredible UL team and fellow grantees to make an even bigger impact in NYC schools and beyond!!

A HUGE THANK YOU to UL and NAAEE!
The UL Innovative Education Award (ULIEA) is the first-of-its-kind initiative designed to invest in environmental and STEM education, sustainable communities, and youth empowerment and was open to nonprofit organizations in the U.S. and Canada that serve to motivate K-12 students. Read more about the five winning organizations here ->.

We could not have won this award without the support of our amazing partners and supporters!

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TALKING WASTE TRANSFER - Youth Impact Media

3/16/2015

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Are you aware that everything you "throw away" will be negatively impacting some community along the journey to a waste transfer station, landfill or incinerator?
Most NYC residents never think about this, unless, of course, garbage is being dumped in one's own "backyard." So why should you care?
Watch this short video, created by 8th graders in our program, and find out!

There is not a single NYC community that wants hundreds of garbage filled, carbon spewing trucks driving through it's streets. NYC is close to spending $1 BILLION on improving NYC garbage transfer yet, we spend only a tiny fraction of that amount on innovating REDUCE EDUCATION! (more ->)

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Lights, Camera, Civic Action!

Our students are leaders!

Our students are concerned advocates!

SORT2SAVE kit is here! Start a Cafeteria Ranger program today with our online toolkit. It's FREE!

NEST+m, our new partner school, wins a 2016 Super Recyclers - Golden Apple Award!

Cafeteria Culture Presents at the United Nations

"The Journey of Plastic Litter"- created by 8th grade students! First in our new #TrashFreeWaters video series

NYC votes YES on Intro 209-A, the bag fee bill, 28 - 20! Thank you NYC Council Members, youth advocates, and the many organizations who worked together to win this victory!

Watch this Video from 26 inspiring young filmmakers - #SaveACritter

"SORT2save cheer!" - our latest music video for teaching K-6 students how to recycle and compost in the cafeteria

We won a UL Innovative Education Award to Advance Environmental and Stem Education!

TALKING WASTE TRANSFER - Youth Impact Media

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