Page 102 - BB_Textbook

Plastic Purge
The photos and message of Nguyễn Việt Hùng challenge Vietnamese youth and citizens to purge this plastic catastrophe. Vietnam’s situation is not unique. Plastic poses a threat to the human-nature relationship globally. Michael SanClements produced a book of challenges to live with much less plastic in order to eat better, detoxify our environment, and save nature from this manmade onslaught. He proposes three levels of “plastic purging”– one bottle (easy steps), two bottle (challenging norm changes), and three bottle (substantial changes in our lives). At your school, could the English Club challenge classmates to engage a plastic purge? How might the Club or school monitor and evaluate your progress?
2. Buying fresh (not packaged) produce and goods:
Step One. Consider these three levels of responsiveness. Begin with a baseline survey of how much and in what ways the students of your class use plastic minute-by- minute, day-by-day. Track your individual and collective use of plastic for one week. And for a second week. Compare the two weeks. Keep good data. Use TBER paragraph structure to summarize your arguments.
Step Two. Inform yourselves on the history of plastics, the many uses of plastic, and the amount of plastic production and consumption in Vietnam and worldwide. Your teacher has access to this information via the Teacher Repository on the Bending Bamboo website, but you can begin researching this topic yourselves.
Step Three. One bottle. Michael SanClements describes these plastic purge steps as taking “minimal effort.” It means removing the most unnecessary plastic items from our daily lives and environment. These steps, too, lessen each student’s exposure to toxic chemicals. For each of the following examples, complete a brief “action plan” to put a simple “one bottle” solution to work.
1. Reusable shopping bags, jars, and containers: ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________
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3. Reducing, if not illuminating, your purchase and use of bottled water:
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4. Reduce litter by placing your own and other waste in city bins:
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5. Refuse plastic straws, cups, and bags with cà phê mang đi and other fast foods:
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6. Use natural bamboo products—straws, toothbrushes, brushes:
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Step Four. Two bottles. steps are going to take more planning and collaboration. You will likely see some cost savings and healthier habits.
1. Shop in the open market, rather
than convenience stores and super markets:
______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________
102 CHAPTER 2 | CLIMATE
BENDING BAMBOO