Working creatively with youth to achieve zero waste, climate-smart communities and a plastic free biosphere.
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Microplastic Madness - movie

Award winning documentary
​& plastic-free impact campaign 
with kids taking the lead!

** ​20,000 viewers in 37 countries**

A Cafeteria Culture production
Directed and Produced by Atsuko Quirk and Debby Lee Cohen
Featuring
P.S. 15 Brooklyn 
5th graders 
and experts,

  Judith Enck,  Marcus Eriksen,  Racheal Z. Miller, and Chelsea M. Rochman


Watch the trailer

Microplastic Madness Trailer (with comments) from Cafeteria Culture on Vimeo.

Schools, host a virtual screening -->
Free for all Title One/ under- resourced schools!
​Spanish, English and Japanese  Subtitles Versions available!
In Japan? Host a screening ->

January 25-31, 2021
MICROPLASTIC MADNESS 
free virtual screening week for all K-12 schools!

Sign up here ->
 Be inspired by New York City youth
​to take #plasticfree action!

​Teachers, educators, families
​free REMOTE LEARNING resources --->

Creative Team and Credits ->
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​Microplastic Madness is more than a movie. 
​It's a springboard for youth action! 

​
The movie, toolkit, and campaign link youth activism
​to two of the most critical issues of our time,
​plastic pollution and the climate crisis.

Help us share our movie and resources
with underserved schools for free!
PLEASE DONATE!

The Story


​Microplastic Madness  is the story of 56 fifth graders from P.S. 15 in Red Hook, Brooklyn - living on the frontline of the climate crisis - whose actions on plastic pollution morph into extraordinary leadership and scalable victories.  

With stop-motion animation, heartfelt kid commentary, and interviews of experts and renowned scientists who are engaged in the most cutting edge research on the harmful effects of microplastics, this alarming, yet charming narrative, conveys an urgent message in user-friendly terms. 

These eleven year olds dive deep into the root causes of plastic pollution.  Taking on the roles of citizen scientists and community advocates, they collect local data,  lead community outreach, and use their own local data to inform policy by testifying and rallying at City Hall. Then they turned their focus back to school,  taking action in their cafeteria to eliminate all single-use plastic!

Created to inspire kids, teachers and policy makers alike, this is the spark needed to grow a youth-led Plastic Free Future movement in schools across NYC and beyond!

WHAT AUDIENCES ARE SAYING!

FOLLOW US FOR UPDATES!
​WATCH ALL OUR VIDEOS ON YOUTUBE here->
​WATCH ALL OUR VIDEOS ON VIMEO here ->
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sign up for UPDATES ->
​

upcoming screenings->
​If you already saw Microplastic Madness, please share your feedback here -->
ATSUKO QUIRK & DEBBY LEE COHEN, have created a film about young people with big ideas and superior educational acumens about science and the environment... documenting the roots of environmental activism in a new generation. It is a 360 view of environmental protection and justice. Packed with information — delivered by kids in 5th grade— who are enthusiastic converts to environmental protection and education and improved policy. - RAW SCIENCE FIL FESTIVAL
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Your tax deductible donation will help us to fund these urgently needed resources! 
 HELP us share this movie
and reach new audiences!

Together we can spark a PLASTIC FREE FUTURE Youth Movement!
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EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES 

Microplastic Madness Toolkit 
​
for a plastic free future
 
links youth activism to three of the most critical issues of our time: plastic pollution, the climate crisis and environmental justice.
With schools as hubs for change, Cafeteria Culture's toolkit provides students and school communities with the resources to lead Plastic Free Lunch Day and other plastic free campaigns, working towards eliminating all single-use plastic packaging in schools  and increasing awareness of the plastic pollution/climate crisis connection.
  • Guiding Questions here ->
  • Remote Learning resources  - Host a virtual screening for your virtual classroom, school., students and families, or school district. Free for Title One schools. Use our free Guiding Questions for post screening discussion, related Lesson plans and activities, and GAMES!  
            We regularly add free resources to this website page. 
  • Plastic Free Lunch Day - a how-to guide for your school. ​
  • Microplastic Madness Toolkit - free classroom curriculum for a Plastic Free Future  - urgently needed plastic pollution + climate curriculum for diverse learners in grades 4 and up. Our interdisciplinary, place-based lesson plans and activities are grouped into units that align with learning standards the movie narrative. The toolkit is designed to allow teachers to use these free resources as stand alone lessons or as complete units. (Educators, sign up for Unit 1 here ->)
  • Screening Toolkit - action guide for teachers, students and community leaders (coming soon)
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WHY CAFETERIA CULTURE?
Multiplying thousands of youth-led actions,
we can create a domino effect
​that drives global change forward from the ground up!


CAFETERIA CULTURE led the movement to rid schools of styrofoam!
CAFETERIA CULTURE, founded in 2009 as Styrofoam Out of Schools, catalyzed the complete elimination of polystyrene (commonly called, styrofoam) trays from all New York City public schools and now ten other cities. This victory has resulted in the elimination of over half a billion polystyrene trays per year from landfills, incinerators and student meals across the US!

We are ready to win the next plastic-free victory in school cafeterias across the country with a national student-led campaign to eliminate all single-use plastic packaging!



CAFETERIA CULTURE has been teaching and sharing cutting edge environmental curriculum since 2012
We pilot innovative K-12 education with programs that engage student as the designers of solutions to achieve zero waste and a plastic free, climate smart future.

The PLASTIC FREE WATERS curriculum merges citizen science and civic participation with the arts and media production. Students use their own, local data to inform policy in their communities and citywide. Our students, overwhelmingly from low-income communities of color, are providing an urgently needed voice in NYC’s environmental movement. 

From 2017-19, Cafeteria Culture has been leading Professional Development trainings for teachers through the New York City Department of Education Offices of Sustainability and Service in Schools, as well as at our partner schools. We have been sharing a beta version of our Plastic Free Waters lessons and asking for teacher feedback. Our experience has shown us that teachers are clamoring for hands-on lessons and activities that connect the plastic marine pollution problem to citizen science and civc  leadership, as well as to multiple subject areas, including Science, Social Studies, English Language Arts, and the Arts.

CAFETERIA CULTURE innovative education awards!
Cafeteria Culture was honored to be one of only five North American organizations to receive an inaugural UL Innovative Education Award (2015) for advancing environmental STEM education, sustainable communities, and youth empowerment (read what the judges said).  Cafeteria Culture  received an Environmental Quality Award from the US EPA Region 2 in 2013 and a competitive US EPA Region 2 Trash Free Waters grant for our “Community Arts+Media for Trash Free Waters” program for 3 NYC public schools, sparking the idea for this movie.

CAFETERIA CULTURE's YouTube channel, Cafcu Media,
has 30 MILLION views!

Atsuko Quirk - Microplastic Madness Director and Cafeteria Culture Media Director - created the documentary, "SCHOOL LUNCH IN JAPAN - It's not just about eating"  to inspire students and adults in NYC schools to infuse the lunch period with student leadership and gratitude as a way to reduce waste. After igniting Cafeteria Culture's Cafeteria Ranger program, the movie went viral and has been inspiring many, many millions of people, young and old, across the globe! 

Now with Microplastic Madness, we are ready to inspire many millions of people across the globe to take plastic free action. Students collect their own local data, debate the issues, lead community outreach, and take action.

Multiplying thousands of youth-led actions, we can create a domino effect that drives global change forward from the ground up!


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View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Cafeteria Culture (@cafcu) on Dec 26, 2019 at 12:30pm PST

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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