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Day - 4

5 minute plastic waste workshop for a child in Germany

Garbage collecting, learning and photo art for clean rivers and seas! Garbage collecting, learning and photo art for clean rivers and seas!

5 minute plastic waste workshop for a child in Germany
Day - 4
Educational work with the “Clean River Kids” for sustainable development

"My dad said the earth will explode if we keep producing so much plastic waste," says Lisa, nine years old, during our school project. And unfortunately she's not entirely wrong. In the last 15 years alone, half of all plastics ever produced have been produced (Heinrich Böll Foundation & BUND, 2019). So plastic production has really exploded. Worldwide, it is now over 400 million tons per year (Heinrich Böll Foundation & BUND, 2019). Almost half of this is single-use packaging, which has a lifespan of just a few minutes to hours, but can remain in the environment for hundreds of years if not disposed of properly. The effects are particularly devastating for animals. Many lose their lives to human waste because they mistake the plastic waste for food or get tangled up in it. The dangers to humans are still unclear. However, a study found that we ingest about 5 grams of microplastics per week – the equivalent of a credit card (WWF, 2020).

Educational work with the “Clean River Kids” for sustainable development
need
Sustainable behavioral change in dealing with plastic for the long-term protection of our waters and marine ecosystems.
activity
Organizing school projects to raise awareness about the problem of plastic pollution and to provide alternative courses of action.
Measurable performance
Number of children reached per school project and the amount of garbage collected together.
Result
The children experience and understand the problem and learn to act in an environmentally friendly way.
Systemically relevant impact
Education and awareness promote the change away from a throwaway society towards a sustainable approach to our ecosystems.
background

Germans like to see themselves as recycling world champions, but in practice it is different: Of the 5.2 million tons of plastic waste recorded in 2017, only 810,000 tons, or 15.6 percent, were recycled (Heinrich Böll Foundation & BUND, 2019). Much of the waste is still dumped in landfills or incinerated. In addition, a considerable amount ends up in nature. Our oceans and domestic waters are particularly affected, because that is where the waste usually ends up if it is not disposed of properly. The Rhine alone transports around 10 tons of plastic waste into the North Sea every year (Mani et al., 2016).
Plastic particles can already be found in the stomach contents of over 90 percent of seabirds. Around a million of them die every year because they have ingested plastic or become entangled in flotsam (Wilcox, 2015). Around 80 percent of this waste ends up in the oceans from the mainland via rivers (Lebtron et al., 2017). Most of the waste comes from carelessly discarded packaging and disposable products (Heinrich Böll Foundation & BUND, 2019). In order to avert the collapse of our marine ecosystems, a change in awareness towards responsible use of resources must begin. Future generations will have to bear the consequences of our consumer behavior, so educating and informing our children is crucial for future development. They must realize that our behavior on land also has enormous, global effects on life on and under water.

Winningen Deutschland
Day - 4 Day - 4
The good deed

Your good deed today enables a 5-minute plastic waste workshop to educate children and young people about plastic waste pollution in our waters. The children and young people are prepared for the topic at school. They then collect rubbish together on land and water. The focus here is on their own experience of the pollution of our waters and experiencing natural areas. At the same time, the collection campaign also reduces pollution with plastic waste. This has an immediate positive effect on nature, our living space. After the collection campaign, the impressions and thoughts gained are processed artistically. This creates photo artworks, texts, films and new approaches to solutions. Throughout the entire project, there are repeated discussion rounds in which the experiences are reflected and content about the problem is conveyed. The children and young people quickly understand the connections, take up alternative courses of action and apply what they have learned to their everyday lives.

AboutGermany
Berlin
Berlin
Capital city
83 240 525
83 240 525
Population
45,723.6
45,723.6
Gross domestic product per capita per year
Rank 6 of 189
Rank 6 of 189
Human Development Index (Human Development Index)

Germany is located in the middle of Europe and consumes by far the most plastic in the entire EU, accounting for 24.2 percent of total demand (PlasticsEurope, 2019).

About the organization and further information

organization

Clean River Project

Website

https://cleanriverproject.de

Further links