Fourth Graders at Highlands Work to Ban Plastic Straws

This June, during media classes, students at Highlands Elementary School in Braintree studied the dangers of plastic pollution in oceans around the world. While discussing the Great Pacific Garbage Patch and learning some cities have already banned the use of plastic straws and plastic bags, one fourth grade student asked, “Is our school working on this? What is our school doing to help?” Her question sparked an energetic classroom discussion. A group of classmates wanted to do something more. They decided to write letters, and even a petition, to do away with single-use straws in the school cafeteria.

One student writes, "I think we should get rid of plastic straws at school. An estimated 100,000 marine animals die annually from plastic waste. Think of how easily an animal can mistake it for food and choke. Plastic straws are among the top ten plastic things in our ocean, and it isn’t hard to drink out of a carton. Plastic dissolves into microscopic pieces of plastic which eventually get into our food. We can’t see these because they’re smaller than a grain of sand."

Another fourth grader adds, "I think that you should ban plastic straws in our cafeterias. I think you should do this because we don’t need them. We can drink with our mouths instead of relying on straws. Also, plastic straws are among the top 10 plastic debris found during coastal cleanups. 500,000 plastic straws are used daily, contributing to the 8 million tons of plastic that enter our Earth’s oceans. A plastic bag can drift towards a turtle, causing the turtle to eat it, because it mistakes the plastic for its favorite snack, the jellyfish."

Their efforts paid off. With the support of Superintendent, Dr. Frank Hackett and Food & Nutrition Services Director, Megan Ahrenholz, RD, Highlands School will be piloting a “going straw-less” policy for the 2018-2019 school year.