This article discusses the #Trashtag online movement to clean up trash from the environment.
To take it a step further, this article suggests that you keep track of the types of trash you find and what brands you find most to encourage those companies to change to more sustainable packaging.
Teaching Tips
Positives
This article may encourage students to think critically about what they buy and use on a regular basis and even encourage their families to change their purchasing habits.
It highlights a positive use of social media to achieve something tangible.
Additional Prerequisites
Let students know that they would need to have the proper protective gear if they chose to do this challenge.
Differentiation
Connections can be made with economics classes by discussing the importance of consumer demand when companies are making decisions about what they are going to sell.
Biology and science classes could discuss the differences between different types of trash materials and how long they take to biodegrade, if they do at all.
Trash tag is an important activity for students and young environmentalists to engage in daily. It is important to keep the environment clean and free from solid waste and pollution. Educators should note that this exercise requires hand gloves and other safety gear to prevent injury and skin infection and garbage bags to collect trash. This is recommended for teaching.
Standards
Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS)
ESS3: Earth and Human Activity
MS-ESS3-4 Construct an argument supported by evidence for how increases in human population and per-capita consumption of natural resources impact Earth's systems.
College, Career, and Civic Life (C3) Standards
Dimension 4: Taking Informed Action
D4.7.6-8 Assess their individual and collective capacities to take action to address local, regional, and global problems, taking into account a range of possible levers of power, strategies, and potential outcomes.
Common Core English Language Arts Standards (CCSS.ELA)
Reading: Informational Text (K-12)
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.6.10 By the end of the year, read and comprehend literary nonfiction in the grades 6-8 text complexity band proficiently, with scaffolding as needed at the high end of the range.
