Zero Waste & Climate
Free Educational Resources (K-12)
⬇︎ toolkits with lesson plans, movies, activities, games ⬇︎
for teachers, students, families and communities
Plastic-free lunch action!
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Use our free resources, movies & action ideas and
reduce school cafeteria plastic every day. Plastic Free Lunch - free resources -> 
Plastic Free Lunch Day was started by students in Cafeteria Culture's program at PS 15 in Brooklyn!
Thank you to all who made
Plastic Free Lunch DAY USA, April 2023 a huge success! |
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watch the trailer
Be inspired by youth to take action!
Be inspired by youth to take action!
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We suggest starting with hosting a screening of
MICROPLASTIC MADNESS - the movie Why host a screening? Our award winning movie is an easy way to inspire students, staff, & administration to take plastic-free action in your school cafeteria! Free for all Title 1 or under-resourced schools. (Screening details)
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. (watch the trailer, learn more ->) |
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Toolkit Lessons & Activities
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MICROPLASTIC MADNESS Toolkit Sign up-> - curriculum for a plastic free future! Climate Education with data, problem solving, and action! Complete this short form to get immediate access to our free toolkit - Lessons and activities as seen in our MICROPLASTIC MADNESS movie. - Connect Math, Science, ELA, Social Studies, and Art to climate education with standards-rich, project-based learning. - Students take real-world meaningful climate action right in school! - Help reduce plastic from school lunches! - Put students in the lead of tackling the plastic pollution crisis! Sign up-> Units include: Street Litter Survey and Desktop Lunch Survey More units are coming! Get updates-> |
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Easy-to-use
"Grab & Go lessons"
Microplastic Madness Guiding Questions
for grades 3 - 12
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Games!
Print out the PDF and play!
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 online: "Versión en Español"
Life-Cycle of Plastic
How to play: Download and print out the PDF with game directions, cards, and the board! All you need are 4 bottle caps. (link to Print&Play) PLAY ONLINE in English or Spanish!
--One person controls the board; keep score on scrap paper / ---¡Juega online en inglés o español! ¡Una persona controla el tablero y puedes llevar la puntuación en cualquier papel de desecho que tengas! English Version – + Instructions Versión en Español – + Instrucciones ** Tip: Find the "i" symbol for instructions! / ** Sugerencia: busque este símbolo ("i") en el juego en línea para acceder a las instrucciones. |
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2048 MICROPLASTICS MULTIPLIED (online)
Like the powers of two, plastic litter breaks down into smaller and smaller pieces of microplastics, increasing exponentially. See for yourself → (warning, this online game is addictive). 
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MICROPLASTIC MADNESS Crossword Puzzle - play online or download a printable PDF. Test your knowledge of microplastic pollution vocabulary.
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MICROPLASTIC MADNESS Word Search -Download and print! Teachers, email us for the Word Search Solutions PDF and Vocabulary doc.
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Easy Cafeteria Plastic Audit
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Litter and Data Collection
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Short educational videos
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Start with Student Leadership
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Recipe for #plasticfree Change
in 4-steps
Start with a classroom waste audit....
Students from MS 246 Walt Whitman in Brooklyn talking to bodega owner about reducing plastic bags and plastic straws.
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move on to system wide change!
Recipe for #plasticfree Change ->
Recipe for #plasticfree Change ->
Youth-led ACTION!
adapted from the work of Gauri Rastogi, high school senior and CafCu Youth Advocate and intern, based on her years of advocating to eliminate styrofoam trays from her school district in MIchigan.
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ARTS+ACTION at PS 221 K -5th grade students debated pros and cons of styrofoam use, prototyped designed or a new lunch tray, created characters, constructed puppets, then workshopped an original play about marine plastic pollution to SHARE THEIR KNOWLEDGE the school community!
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Youth POV +action on climate, racial justice, human rights, policy, public school & more! |
Adapt the slides for your own presentation |
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For Teachers and Families
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* Cafeteria Culture's Recipe for #plasticfree Change - Start your #plastic-free action with a simple, one-week home waste audit! * CafCu’s YouTube Channel, CafCu Media ---Videos made by and featuring NYC students: and JAPAN! (34 million views!) |
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Desktop Lunch Survey
How much plastic is in your school lunch?
Classroom lunch audit with math and media
Cafeteria Culture's Remote Learning Resources are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available at info@cafeteriacultue.org.