Week 31
I’ve been thinking a lot about waste produced in the high school where I work, thanks largely to the student who recently approached me about advising a green club. Of course I said yes, so we’ve been spending some time lately getting plans in place for our first meeting, planned this Wednesday. This student is great – she makes a conscientious effort to buy recycled school supplies, for one, toting a folder made from Capri Sun beverage envelopes and pencils made from recycled rubber. She also does a lot of upcycling. She came into class about a month ago wearing earrings painted like pizza slices made from a cut-apart plastic water bottle.
Our future plans for the green club include a recycling contest, working to get the high school certified as an Oregon Green School, planning Earth Day events, and maybe hosting upcycling/crafting sessions after school. Beautiful signs have been made and are ready to be posted. I’m hoping for a good turnout during the first meeting.
On the other hand, I’ve also been working with my journalism class as they plan a Valentine’s Day fundraiser selling cookies during this week’s sporting events. The students’ plan is for the cookies to come wrapped in a cellophane bag tied with a helium balloon. So, it was with great self-loathing that I walked into the store today and purchased several bags of pink latex balloons and heart-covered cellophane bags.
This poses an interesting ethical dilemma for me, one that I don’t know how to solve. On the one hand, I feel like I’m able to bring the Green Garbage Project into the school where I work, starting a green club where there wasn’t one before. I have all sorts of students excited about environmentalism and I’m constantly being asked what I do about this object or that, in order to avoid making trash. This project has proven to be an immense educational tool. I also try to bring my ideals into my classroom life, where I don’t make trash (or what I do make is added to the shoebox). I even save staples at work so I can ball them together and eventually recycle them. I use both sides of paper before recycling it, use colored pencils to correct papers when possible, and give out recycled or green-friendly products are prizes when the occasion arises.
And yet, to support another club I advise, I’ve been pigeon-holed into buying products I find useless and environmentally degrading. If there’s one thing I’ve found during this year, it’s that our society embraces so so many products that we just simply don’t need – most single-serve packaging is a good example of this. Balloons are another illustration – balloons are garbage from the moment we buy them. Sure, they spend an hour or two looking pretty or being filled with water and thrown at each other, but in the end, the latex or Mylar leftovers are destined for the garbage bin. How sad. Can’t we find another decoration to substitute for balloons that “looks pretty?” Something like plants or hand-drawn posters? Anything has to be better than balloons and cellophane bags.
The problem is, I greatly believe in student autonomy, especially when I’m in my adviser shoes. I can guide students in one direction, but when they are planning a fundraiser, it’s up to them to decide on details like balloons and cellophane bags. I just simply can’t convince everyone that trash-free is the way to be.
So the question that bothers me is one of environmental hypocrisy. Sure, the balloons and bags were purchased up front by me, but these are really just supply costs that will be reimbursed after the fundraiser. What issues like these constantly boil down to, for me, is the desperate need for a mindset change in our society. I’ve written before about how much we seem to enjoy our plastic knick-knacks, even though we know they are junk – if we didn’t, there wouldn’t be dollar stores in every suburb in the country. The problem is, a balloon is cheap. A cellophane bag is cheap. Once delivered and fleetingly enjoyed, these are easy to discard with virtually no twinge of guilt. The societal change I’d like to see involves factoring the environmental cost of production and disposal into a product’s cost. If we did this, it would certainly be cheaper to decorate a party with plants than a very costly alternative like balloons. It’s food for thought, anyway.
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There are no easy answers to the questions you are raising. The need for a sea change in the way we think is great. I expect this is even more true in the US than it is among middle and upper middle class Indians, but the need is there, regardless.
You are probably right to respect student autonomy on the balloon questions. If the world will change, ever, I suspect a green massive movement will be required to make it change. Students will not learn how to lead that movement if they aren’t allowed to make a few mistakes early on. A few balloons are a small price to pay for the lesson in leadership these kids will get.
Of course that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t challenge them; this project is one powerful way you can do that!
You could have used the metal refillable ballons. Just a thought, but the plastic bags for the candy…hmm you got me. Maybe paper recyclable bags with hearts drawn on them.
Very thought provoking post! You are right on about having too many products that we don’t need. If you further ask more whys you would find that there are far more unnecessary ceremonies created by the consumption crazy society and usually targeted at kids, who are a very vulnerable target. BTW, having grown up in a coconut country, the most important decorating material that was used was tender coconut leaves(cut in decorative ways) in most of our celebrations/ceremonies. This was very biodegradable stuff, but things are changing rapidly even in these parts of the world due to rapid globalization.
I’m a little late to the topic but wanted to share my discovery. I’ve been looking for green ways to package the products I sell and found out that your can compost cellophane because it is made out of cellulose. I was really excited.
I really admire your project here. It’s a great motivator.