‘Don’t throw the world away’: Plastic pollution’s the focus for this year’s World Water Week @ Chief Sealth International HS

That’s the trailer for “Midway,” a film by photographer/filmmaker Chris Jordan telling the story of plastics pollution in the Pacific through birds whose stomachs are filled with it. On Tuesday, March 25th, Jordan will be the public keynote speaker for this year’s World Water Week at Chief Sealth International High School – plastics pollution is the focus of the fourth annual edition of the weeklong “idea festival” organized by social-studies teacher Noah Zeichner and his students, as explained here:

We started WWW four years ago during our first year as an international school. We chose the theme of water because we thought it would be relevant to students and teachers and of course, it is one of the most critical global issues on the planet. WWW is a weeklong series of assemblies, synchronous lessons, a student conference, evening keynotes, service learning, and celebration. Each of the four years has had a sub-theme. The first year it was global scarcity and local conservation. The second year was food security. Last year was sanitation (toilets). This year’s theme is plastic pollution. We wanted to help students see the interconnections between all of these complex global issues, with water at the center of it all.

Students leading WWW this year are 11th graders Aisaya Corbray and Paloma Robertson with the support of senior Tasha Addington-Ferris, with dozens of others working in support. World Water Week also is tying in this year with the Sealth 9th graders’ Water, Ecology, and Sustainability Team (WEST) Project, which they will be presenting to 8th graders at adjacent Denny International Middle School. The WEST Project work will be on display during a resource fair preceding Chris Jordan’s appearance on March 25th, and the WWW team hopes you will join them that night. Here’s the full schedule of what they will be working on, including a student conference all day Wednesday, March 26th. Stand by for more as WWW gets closer.

4 Replies to "'Don't throw the world away': Plastic pollution's the focus for this year's World Water Week @ Chief Sealth International HS"

  • Kravitz March 5, 2014 (2:18 pm)

    This was one of the saddest movie trailers I’ve ever seen, because all of us have somehow played a part in contributing to the pollution of this planet (whether knowingly or unwittingly). I think it’s fantastic that someone has taken the time to document this, and even better that they will play a part in speaking to students about this topic. Changing our ways and methods begins with learning, and what a great opportunity to get younger minds thinking about how to create positive changes for our planet. Thank you Chris Jordan and Noah Zeichner for taking the time to discuss this with the students. Wish we could all attend!

  • sem March 5, 2014 (3:00 pm)

    WWW is an excellent opportunity for students and our community. Kudos to CSIHS!

  • pupsarebest March 6, 2014 (5:27 am)

    Thank you to all involved in this endeavor.
    It’s heartening to see a bit of hope, and the ripple effect of your efforts can be huge.

  • sam-c March 6, 2014 (12:38 pm)

    I didn’t see the trailer but I saw those photos when they were originally being shared/ linked etc a few years ago. heartbreaking; made me sick to my stomach.

    regarding ‘change our ways’… I have been recycling for many years of course, but ever since I’ve seen those photos, I’ve tried to figure out how one can go through life without throwing away little plastic lids.

    have you? can you? obviously, you can buy milk in the half gallon cartons instead of plastic gallon jugs. (our family goes through so much milk that this is not feasible in our budget ie, 4 half gallon cartons for almost $16 or 2 gallons for ~ $ 8) but beyond that, even OJ cartons have plastic lids, prescriptions bottles have little lids, and SPU does not recycle them. I’ve cut them out when I can (haven’t had bottled water in a long time), but it is not all possible. tiny plastic lids… other little plastic things. once I started looking I was shocked at all the little plastic lids- what do you do? just don’t buy any advil (e.g.)?

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