Plastic in our oceans is threatening the marine ecosystem: marine animals get stuck in the plastic or, even worse, they are ingesting plastic because it looks similar to their food.

It’s not all doom and gloom though. This blog gives 8 easy steps to help cut down on plastics that could end up in the ocean and contribute to the pollution problem. It can be as easy as cutting down on plastic consumption (step 1) and choosing reusables such as cloth shopping bags and steel/glass bottles instead of plastic bags and single-use plastic water bottles (step 7). Check out these and other ways to be a part of the solution here.

Thinking of taking on a Grades of Green activity to cut down on plastics? Consider a Water Refill Station or Trash Free Lunches! To access the downloadable resources for all 40+ of our activities, register here. ​

You might have heard the benefits about using one less plastic bag, but have you considered One Less Straw? The One Less Straw pledge campaign is a way to get involved and be the solution to the problem. Affecting change starts with saying “no.” By taking on this pledge, there’s nothing to buy and the only person you need to rely on is you!

Need more reasons to join the One Less Straw movement? The facts about single-use plastic straws are mind-boggling and persuasive. Our environment and health are impacted by numbers like the 500 million plastic straws discarded every day in the US alone, which are enough straws to fill more than 46,000 school buses a year. This huge number also contributes to the 175 billion straws a year making their way into landfills, or worse, the oceans.

Sign the pledge here! Looking to raise money for your school? You can do this through the pledge. One hundred percent of the proceeds can go back to helping your school with environmental education programs. Need ideas for environmental education initiatives? Check out Grades of Green’s Activities and see how the Trash Free Lunches activity can encourage students to take on the One Less Straw pledge while reducing the amount of lunchtime waste they generate. If you haven’t already, register here to gain access to all the step-by-step implementation instructions and resources Grades of Green has to offer.