ULIS class tackles plastic pollution
Awareness and education
7 July 2023
From September to June 2023, the ULIS class at Les Côtes de Péronnas high school took up the fight against plastic pollution, under the impetus of their teacher Stéphane Delaye and in collaboration with teams from The SeaCleaners. In all, 150 pupils from the school were able to learn more about the issue from the students in this class, through presentations, games, waste collection and the production of a video seen from the sky.
New 'super ambassadors' for the oceans
After an initial phase of research and discussion at the start of the school year, Marina, Logan, Khalil, Meridjon, Guilhem, Diego, Melvin, Dion, Maéva, Kenza, Lorenzo, Eve and Léa decided to tackle the issue of plastic pollution. The discovery of The SeaCleaners association and its collection boat project, the MANTA, prompted these 13 young people to contact our teams. Through a series of remote and on-site meetings, they were trained and equipped to raise awareness among the school’s 150 6th and 5th graders. Maéva and Léa, for example, explained why the ocean is vital for mankind, Guilhem took responsibility for explaining the dispersion of plastic in the water cycle, and Dion presented ecogestures against plastic pollution. They all became animators of the games developed by The SeaCleaners – from the game of the goose to Chamboule-tout and Memory – mobilizing their fellow students through playful and constructive interaction.
To reinforce local mobilization, a waste collection along the banks of the Carronières pond was organized on Monday July 3 by students in the ULIS class, who were in charge of invitations, communication and organization on the day. In all, 35 participants collected more than 8 kilos of waste, which will not end up in the ocean!
From photo novel to video: raising awareness through creativity
As well as developing their speaking skills, the 13 youngsters gave free rein to their imagination by taking part in The SeaCleaners’ competition for World Oceans Day, and creating two photo-novellas illustrating eco-actions, now on display in their classrooms: “Soyons Responsables” (Let’s Be Responsible) on saving energy at school, and “Le meilleur déchet est celui qui n’existe pas” (The best waste is the one that doesn’t exist) on zero waste picnics.
They also succeeded in gathering 170 students in the schoolyard to make the incredible “STOP PLASTIC POLLUTION” video, filmed with the help of a drone and shared with all schoolchildren.
“It's only 3 kilometers from the school to the forest, but only one step from the forest to the ocean. So to protect our oceans, let's start by cleaning up around us!”
