We met with Karen Napolitano, who is the education and outreach coordinator of SIMS Recycling Center. We learned that recycling is a very complicated process, but is very effective. They are able to recycle metal, cardboard, glass, and plastic, although not all types. Soft plastics, such as plastic bags aren’t recycled, not because they aren’t recyclable, but because they need to make a profit and to do that they have to sell plastic that companies need, and soft plastic isn’t what they need. Not all glass is accepted either, for example light bulbs are much more fragile than other glass, so companies wouldn’t want it as much and therefore it wouldn’t make a profit for the recycling center.

Aluminum foil isn’t accepted either. We learned that these materials that aren’t recycled end up in landfills, which aren’t the best places for things to go because landfills consume oxygen and let out methane, which is horrible for the environment. Karen Napolitano told us how only 9% of plastic produced in a year is recycled, but that statistic isn’t as simple as it sounds. A lot of plastic is made to be reusable, and therefore wouldn’t be recycled, but the plastic that is disposable and isn’t recycled is a problem.

We operated a smaller scale of the recycling process, by shooting air at plastic to sort it, quickly separating different types of plastics into their areas, and seeing the process of how magnets are used to separate metal from plastic. We learned about how much oil was used to create plastic, and we saw the jobs that people needed to operate recycling centers. But what we also saw in the process of recycling is that it also isn’t a perfect solution. Reduce and reuse are the two most important things you should do, and recycling should only be a last resort. We learned a lot and answered a lot of our questions.

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We met with the middle school science teachers Antonia and Sherezada. We learned a lot about microplastics with them, and discussed topics like bacteria that can eat plastic, and different types of recyclable materials. We learned about how plastic was in everything we used, like clothing, food, and even the air we breathe. We also learned how getting plastic in your system was almost unavoidable, as everything is packaged in plastic, everyday items are made from plastic, and in food. They told us how single use plastics are supposed to be single use, and reusing single use plastics could actually cause them to contaminate whatever is put inside them, like single use water bottles. The interview was very informative and we learned a lot about the microplastics problem and ways to fight it.

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We went to Bard’s 2022 Disrupt to Sustain Social Impact Pitch Competition Powered by RebelBase and learned a lot about people’s strategies to make sustainable business ideas that can also get money. It was very interesting because it was made in a way that would benefit everyone because it would be just as easy to use, and would be even more profitable.

Think this is a very smart idea because environmentally sustainable businesses shouldn’t be annoying to get anything from, because if the product wasn’t as good as non-sustainable ones, then why would people buy them? This information was very helpful and I will try to integrate it into my work on microplastics and ways for people to want to reduce plastic usage in a way that doesn’t affect them. We learned about a lot of situations where reusable products would be useful as well, like confetti and glitter, because those are both things that can get in the ocean.

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We met with Erica Cirino who is a Communications Manager at the Plastic Pollution Coalition. We learned about microplastics inside of people and how it can affect health. We also learned about the scale of the problem and how there are garbage patches that are multiple miles long. We learned about opportunities to help out and the importance of starting early to help fix the problem before it becomes too large. We learned about how if we start now we can make a change and it is best to start when we are young and make a habit out of using less single use plastics.

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