Working creatively with youth to achieve zero waste, climate-smart communities and a plastic free biosphere.
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Microplastic Madness - movie
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,  Dr. Marcus Eriksen,  Rachael Z. Miller, and Dr. Chelsea M. Rochman
watch trailer on YouTube ->/ watch on Vimeo ->
​Creative Team and Credits ->
​

An award winning documentary
​with kids taking the lead
to stop plastic pollution!


** 100,000 viewers in 45 countries**

World Map of screenings and
Youth Comments from Around the World

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Spanish, Mandarin Chinese, Russian,
​German  and English subtitled versions 

Sign up here to host a screening ->
​
​In Japan? Host a screening ->
​

Not a K-12 public school?

​
Be inspired to take Plastic Free Lunch action!

FREE LESSONS & TOOLKIT!

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LEARN MORE

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Not sure where to start?
Use our
RECIPE FOR CHANGE:
​
from personal change to
system change

Try these easy steps ->
Start with a  home plastic survey
​
TAKE ACTION!
Urge your U.S. Senator &
​Member of Congress to Support
the Break Free From Plastic Pollution Act

Learn about the Plastic pollution Crisis ->
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Free for all K-12 public schools through Nov 23, 2022!
watch:
Youth Comments from Around the World! 
and global map of screenings ->
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Microplastic Madness is the winner of many prestigious film festival awards including:
  • Peggy Charred Award for Excellence, Boston International Kids Film Festival
  • Best Documentary - Amateur Category (over 40 minutes), Raw Science Film Festival
  • Best Feature Documentary Film - Audience Choice, Providence Children’s Film Festival
  • Best Documentary Feature Award - Youth Jury, Children’s Film Festival Seattle
  • Best Solution Award, Cinema Verde Environmental Film and Art Festival
​Microplastic Madness is more than a movie. 
​It's a springboard for youth action! 

​
The movie and toolkit link youth activism
​to 3 critical issues of our time:
​plastic pollution, environmental justice and the climate crisis.
​Teachers, educators, families:
​free games + other learning resources --->

PLEASE DONATE!
Help us share our movie and resources

with more underserved schools for free!

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 the world!

WHAT AUDIENCES ARE SAYING!

FOLLOW US FOR UPDATES!
34 million views!!
​WATCH ALL OUR VIDEOS ON YOUTUBE->
​WATCH OUR VIDEOS ON VIMEO->
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The Plastic Pollution Crisis ->
Recipe for #plasticfree Change

​
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 grow global action for a 
​plastic free future
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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.
  • Microplastic Madness Toolkit - data +action lessons for a plastic free future  - urgently needed plastic pollution + climate curriculum for diverse learners in grades 3 and up. Our interdisciplinary, place-based lesson plans and activities, many that are portrayed in the movie, 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. Teachers, sign up and access the Toolkit here ->
  • Guiding Questions here ->

  • Plastic Free Lunch Day - a how-to guide for your school. 
  • The Plastic Pollution Crisis (learn more) ->
  • Recipe for #plasticfree Change
  • ​TEACH-IN: BREAK FREE FROM PLASTIC POLLUTION ACT
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WHY CAFETERIA CULTURE?
Multiplying thousands of youth-led actions,
we can create a domino effect,
​driving global change from the ground up,
to stop plastic pollution.


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. 

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

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​If you already saw Microplastic Madness, please share your feedback here -->
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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

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