Your school principal has requested all class monitors
to reduce the pile-up of plastics from each class inside the school compound.
As the class monitor, discuss with the assistant monitor, about different ways
to make your class plastic-free and to encourage the whole class to achieve
this goal. Use the cues.
Presenting the problem
Suggesting solutions
Did you know...?
plastic can take up to yoo years
to break down
We can... Shall we... Lets...
form a club that will collect waste plastic
every Saturday
- hold talks about the proper use of plastic
+ plastic chokes and kills birds and fish
- acres of forest land lost
give away prizes to
Answers
Me: Sir has asked us to reduce the use of plastic in class.
Assistant monitor: All of a sudden?
Me: Well, not all of a sudden. The plastic issue has been around for quite some years now. It is really time we did something about it, before it is too late. Have you seen the landfill around Delhi? It is like a huge stinky mountain! If we don’t reduce plastic usage, the environment will be too full of plastic to let us live comfortably!
Assistant monitor: I understand, but how do we change that?
Me: By starting right here, in our class. What things made out of plastic do we use the most in class?
Assistant monitor:Pens, tiffins and water bottles.
Me: Yes. So let us try to find substitutes for these plastic items. We can try to use metallic pens, but not many people would agree. So maybe we should try to focus on reducing wastage. Instead of buying new pens, we could encourage buying just the refills. As for tiffins and water-bottles, it should not be difficult to shift to steel. There are a lot of options available in the market.
Assistant monitor: Yes, I agree, but how will we convince everyone?
Me: By presenting them with facts that they probably don’t know, like the number of years it takes for plastic to degrade. It can take anywhere between 10 to 1000 years.
Assistant monitor:That is longer than we will live! How scary!
Me: Yes, exactly why we need to act. How about starting an environmental club? Think of a catchy name. We could meet once a week and plan an activity for the weekend.
Assistant monitor: It could be something as simple as cleaning the park next to school. Of course once the club has more members, there will undoubtedly be more suggestions.
Me: Absolutely. We could discuss how to use and dispose of plastic in a responsible manner, the fatal effect of plastic on birds and fish and track how forest land is decreasing.
Assistant monitor: We could even use the social media to reach out to the city administration.
Me: Yes, and we could get them to sponsor contests and prizes.
Assistant monitor: That will keep everyone motivated as well.