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
    • Movie Feedback
    • Japan! Microplastic Madness
  • Plastic Free Lunch
    • Plastic Free Lunch
    • Resources - Plastic Free Lunch Day
    • FAQs - Plastic Free Lunch Day
    • PFLD School Food Service
    • NYC Plastic Free Lunch Days
    • Press Release Plastic Free Lunch Day April 19, 2023
  • 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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  • RESOURCES/TOOLKITS
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    • MICROPLASTIC MADNESS Toolkit
    • Desktop Lunch Survey
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Zero Waste & Climate
Free Educational Resources (P-12)
⬇︎ toolkits with lesson plans, movies, activities, games ⬇︎
for teachers, students, families and communities
​

Plastic-free lunch action!

 Use our free resources, movies & action ideas and 
reduce school cafeteria plastic every day.
Plastic Free Lunch - free resources ->


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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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Not a K-12 public school? Sign up to host a screening here->
 watch the trailer
Be inspired by youth to take action!
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)
  • Screen the entire movie (76 mins) as an extended lesson or in 3 parts (about 20 minutes each), allowing time for a discussion following each section (see our Guiding Questions). 
  • For grades 3 and 4. we recommend screening the movie in 3 parts.
  • Use our free COMPANION GUIDE and GUIDiNG QUESTIONS (received when you sign up). 
ABOUT                                    
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

its i
​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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MICROPLASTIC MADNESS - grades 9-12 
​Guiding Question and writing prompts ->
​
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​Games!

Life-Cycle of Plastic 
 a board game for 2-4 players
Ages 10+
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Print out the PDF and play!
Pictureonline: "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.
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.
MICROPLASTIC MADNESS Crossword Puzzle -
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
for the cafeteria & classroom

Individual student observation activity for lunch period
​with a
 follow-up lesson plan  ​(PDF, 3 pages with Teacher Notes) and Worksheet (PDF, 1 page) ⬇ ⬇
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Litter and Data Collection 
Data + Action

Class, Green Team, small group , or intergenerational  community activity.
- Data Sheet with brief directions ->
- Complete "How to Guide" ->  Website page with video->
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​Short educational videos
made by and with students

TRASH FREE WATERS local action, global impact
40 videos, 71K subscribers & 34 million views!
 Teach students
​how to collect and present data to inform policy!
Watch "Kids Exercise Democracy" on Vimeo
Be inspired by NYC youth to
#BreakFreeFromPlastic

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 Brooklyn! See more Movies.

Start with Student Leadership
in the cafeteria!

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Service Learning in the cafeteria!
Students take on cafeteria leadership roles 
​to reduce school cafeteria
food & packaging waste.
Watch on Youtube ->; Watch on Vimeo ->​

​Use our videos and free downloads ->
Badges, Signs, Scheduling templates, 
Letter templates to teachers and parents,  and Daily Operation
Watch on YouTube->; Watch on Vimeo ->​​
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Recipe for #plasticfree Change
in 4-steps 
Start with  a classroom waste audit....

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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 ->

Youth-led ACTION!

  • lead a Creative Messaging Campaign!

  • ​For High School Students
How to Drive Change In Your School Cafeteria - A Guide for High School Students,
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.

  • For College & High School Students 
Step by Step College Guide and Survey, Plastic Free Lunch Day and plastic free action ideas for every day!

Giant Puppets
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!
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Adapt the slides for your own presentation
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"Community Science"​​
collect litter
​+ litter data
 

and share to
inform policy! 
Earn Community Service hours!


For Teachers and Families

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Make a no-sew
reusable bag

from an old t-shirt 

 - 5 steps in 10 minutes!

Watch our short how to video
 
 * 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
​
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Videos made by and featuring NYC students: 
  • ​We are Citizen Scientists
  • Got Reusable Bags?
  • Do You Really Need a Straw?
and JAPAN!
  • School Lunch in Japan, It's Not Just About Eating 
          (34 million views!)
FOLLOW CAFCU FOR UPDATES!
YOUTUBE ->
 VIMEO ->
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Desktop Lunch Survey
How much plastic is in your school lunch?
Classroom lunch audit with math and media

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Creative Commons License
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.
​
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​
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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 © 2023 Cafeteria Culture