Working creatively with youth to achieve zero waste, climate-smart communities and a plastic free biosphere.
Cafeteria Culture
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  • MICROPLASTIC MADNESS
    • MICROPLASTIC MADNESS
    • Host a screening
    • Creative Team and Credits
    • The Plastic Pollution Crisis
    • Recipe for #plasticfree Change
    • Educational Resources - Overview >
      • Microplastic Madness GAMES! >
        • Crossword Puzzle MPmad
      • NO-SEW T-SHIRT BAG +mask
      • Remote Learning resources
    • Youth Comments from around the world
    • Attend a Screening
    • Movie Feedback
    • Japan! Microplastic Madness
  • Take Action
    • TAKE ZERO WASTE ACTION
    • Break Free From Plastic Pollution Act - Teach-in
    • DIY DATA ACTION litter cleanup >
      • DATA +ACTION litter clean up
      • Student and Teacher Litter Data Collection
    • Save Our Compost NYC
    • Skip the Straw
    • NY Bag Bill
    • NYC Foam Ban >
      • Foam Trays Out of Schools
      • Trayless Tuesdays
    • Youth Action on Plastic Pollution
    • Plastic Water Bottle ban NYC
    • Alternative Messaging >
      • No-Styro Puppets
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  • EDUCATION
    • Plastic Free Lunch >
      • Plastic Free Lunch Day press release
    • Educational Resources - Overview
    • MICROPLASTIC MADNESS Toolkit
    • Desktop Lunch Survey
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      • SORT2SAVE KIT - Cafeteria Rangers
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    • Plastic Free Waters - education >
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TAKE ACTION
to STOP
​PLASTIC POLLUTION

and for
equitable zero waste!
-- actions for school, home,  & community--

Cafeteria Culture is dedicated to supporting youth
as leaders in their schools & communities

to stop plastic pollution, reduce food and food packaging waste,
provide composting for all communities,
and to ensure quality climate education for K-12 students.

YOU CAN HELP!!
​
Scroll down for school, home, 
​local, and national action!

THE WORLD IS AWASH IN PLASTIC POLLUTION
​TAKE ACTION!


START AT SCHOOL
Plastic Free Lunch
START AT HOME
Recipe for 
#plasticfree
 
​
Change

starting with a home waste audit!
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FIND YOUR NYC COUNCIL MEMBER-->
Getting push-back from decision makers about reusables?
Use CafCu's new downloadable resource:

COVID & PLASTIC FOODWARE
Why Grab and Go Food Dispensing Methods
do not Prevent COVID-19 Transmission



NYC COMPOST UPDATE!
Citywide Curbside Organic Collection bill
Find your NYC COUNCIL MEMBER-->
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U.S. PLASTIC-FREE POLICY ACTION!​

Sign the petition to 
Reduce PLASTIC Waste
​in National Parks Act

Join 77,000 citizens who already petitioned The Department of Interior
to end the sale & distribution of single-use plastics in National Parks 
add your name ->
And call/write
 your U.S. Representative and Senators 
Urge them 
to sponsor
the Reducing Waste in National Parks Act (S.2960/H.R.5533)!


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Support the
Break Free From
Plastic Pollution Act

EASY ACTION:
Send a letter to your

Member of Congress and US Senators ->

STUDENT ACTION!
​
Students, lead a teach-in on the
​Break Free From Plastic Pollution Act:
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Youth Leaders and Teachers,
sign up for free access for the
Break Free From
Plastic Pollution Act

 Teach-in presentation ->
A huge THANK YOU to all our
US Congressional Reps
in NYC
for supporting
this groundbreaking bill!
Ask your US Representatives to support the BREAK FREE FROM PLASTIC POLLUTION ACT 
- Shift responsibility for waste management & recycling to manufacturers and producers
- Set up a US beverage container refund program
- Establish minimum recycled content standards
- Phase out single-use plastic products that aren’t recyclable
- Prohibit plastic waste from being exported to developing countries      
​
Read more 

​
EASY ACTIONS
 **from our friends at BeyondPlastics.org
​
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1- Tell Food Delivery Apps to Please Hold The Plastic
     
​
Please let SEAMLESS, DOORDASH, GRUBHUB, DELIVERY.COM, CAVIAR, AND POSTMATE know that most of the single-use items that come along with our to-go orders are not recyclable. These items add to our plastic pollution crisis!

 It is time for these companies to re-design their apps with
 a "NO single-use" as the default setting for all orders. Uber Eats has already done it.Orders should only have single-use items, such as plastic cutlery, straws and condiment packets if customers ask for it!

2- Tell Amazon: Stop Polluting Our Planet With Plastic Packaging 
     
Almost every Amazon order arrives in plastic packaging and pouches, that gets thrown away or becomes dangerous litter. 
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3- Sign the  #PlasticFreePresident petition urging President Biden to lead the fight to end the plastic pollution crisis.
 550+ organizations recently launched a plan outlining the eight executive actions President Biden can take, without Congress, to fight the plastic pollution crisis. President Biden must take all eight actions.
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4- Urge the Army Corps of Engineers to prioritize environmental justice and protect wetlands by revoking Formosa Plastics' federal permit 
Submit your public comments to the US Army Corps  to stop Formosa Plastics from polluting Louisiana’s air, water and communities. Make #EnvironmentalJustice and public health a priority.


COMMUNITY ACTION
​
for all ages

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"Community Science"
for ages 8 - 98!


Students: earn community service hours.​

Engage policymakers on
the plastic pollution crisis 
by sharing local litter data
.
NYC  VICTORY!!! 
Thanks to all who helped get the 
Plastic Straw By Request Bill passed.

Start your own Straw-By-Request campaign!

We have tools! ->

Straw litter Red Hook Brooklyn

​REUSE!
Join the Reuse Revolution - 
​10 simple steps you can take
​
from BeyondPlastics.org

MORE SCHOOL ACTIONS

​EDUCATE

your students, teachers, staff and community

by hosting a screening of our award winning documentary, 
MICROPLASTIC MADNESS!
​

 Free screenings for all Title One schools!
Offering ongoing special free screening days for all schools

Sign up to host your own virtual screening here.

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PLASTIC FREE LUNCH DAY!
Take climate action by reducing single-use plastics in your school cafeteria. 
​
Learn more ->   Start by hosting a screening of
​MICROPLASTIC MADNESS
is your school still using 
styrofoam trays?

Learn about our
STYROFOAM OUT OF SCHOOLS
campaign
->
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TRASH FREE WATERS local action, global impact
Students debate, ask questions, collect data, and take community action using their own powerful stories about how local plastic street litter becomes global toxic marine pollution, threatening our oceans and marine wildlife.

​Learn more ->
 
Watch our student videos -
Host a school-wide screening and
​join the PLASTIC FREE LUNCH campaign!
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Start a student-leadership program in your school cafeteria
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NEW YORK ACTION

NEW!!
Ask your NYS Senator and Assembly Member
to co-sponsor the
tobacco product waste reduction act
NY Senate Bill S1278
stop the sale of polluting cigarettes with single-use filters
and single-use electronic cigarettes

Passing this bill will reduce toxic plastic pollution​
​

​ 
New York City Council passed the straw bill in May!
Next up:

SKIP THE STUFF
(
INT. 1775-2019 B)

​in NYC , to make utensils, napkins, and condiment packets  available upon request only.
FIND YOUR NYC COUNCIL MEMBER
HERE->
 

​call or write today!

New York City Action Alert
#SaveOurCompost NYC
82% of NYC’s waste is incinerated or exported to landfills and much of our waste is coming from our kitchens!  TAKE ACTION
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Compost drop off site at Union Square run by Lower Eastside Ecology Center

NEW YORK
​PLASTIC BAG BAN
 

with a 5-cent fee on paper bags (in NYC) is in effect
​Let's make sure it's enforced!
 If you see  NY stores handing out #singleuseplastic bags at checkout,
post on social media and tag 
@NYSDEC.

Learn more and be inspired to advocate
for a plastic bag ban where you live!

TAKE GLOBAL ACTION!
Sign the petition
tell Governments, world leaders,
representatives at UNEA and beyond
to sign on for a
​Global Treaty on Plastics.



Listen to youth!
CafCu Youth Advocates in action

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

speaking 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!"

Learn more about our Youth Advocates Program here ->


​

​
DONATE | About |MICROPLASTIC MADNESS|PLASTIC FREE LUNCH| Educational Resources
Take Action|Youth Advocates |Contact 
​
​
Our 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. 


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
Copyright © 2022 Cafeteria Culture