Training Generation Plastic Warriors in Manizales, Colombia

Welcome to the first posting to the EcoEnglish Community blog! I am Allegra Troiano, one of the founders along with Susan Huss-Lederman, of the EcoEnglish website. As English language educators and trainers, we are now concentrating on education for climate sustainability. Certainly, there are many pressing global problems that affect sustainability. So you may wonder, Why are we focusing on plastics when there are so many pressing issues to address related to our ailing environment?

While researching appropriate environmental links related to the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) on our website, EcoEnglish, the dangers of plastics kept popping up. After much discussion, Susan and I realized that plastics are so pervasive that they are affecting our health, our ecosystems, and wildlife across the globe.

First and foremost, the US has tripled its use of plastics since the 1980s. Statista claims that just in 2019, the US generated an estimated 73 million metric tons of plastic waste, equivalent to 22 kilos per inhabitant, and roughly 5 times more than the global average per capita. Another frightening statistic is that upwards of 10 million tons of plastics are dumped in our oceans every year. (1)

Plastics are derived from fossil fuels and contribute to resource depletion and greenhouse gas emissions from production to disposal. They have been found in places as deep as the Mariana Trench and as high as Mount Everest. They are in our air, our land, our water. My own travels through La Guajira, Colombia, in 2022 made me even more aware of how ubiquitous plastics are as single-use plastic bags hung from cacti like light bulbs on Christmas trees. Since plastic doesn’t biodegrade easily, those bags are destined to hang around in our environment, break into much smaller particles, microplastics and nanoplastics (MNPLs), for hundreds and possibly thousands of years. How they affect us is only now coming to light. (1)

Plastics, which contribute significantly to environmental pollution, harm marine life through ingestion and entanglement, enter our food chain, and according to research, impact human health, from placentas to the blood, the brain, and all major organs. (2)

 

Image courtesy of Plastic Oceans International

So that’s why Susan Huss-Lederman and I decided to focus on plastic reduction and elimination when we applied and were awarded a 2024 Citizen Diplomacy Action Fund grant through Global Ties, supported by the US Department of State to train English language teachers and youth at the Centro Colombo Americano in Manizales, Colombia. We figured that in the short time we would be in Colombia, we could increase awareness about the effects of plastics and engage in project-based training on plastics because they are visible everywhere, polluting our environment and invading all parts of our bodies, including the brain. By training teachers and youth (aka Generation Plastic Warriors) on the effects of plastics on the environment and on their health, they could develop their knowledge and skills to train new generations about the scourge of plastics and how to reduce and eliminate their use where possible. In fact, plastics are such a big problem that the Colombian government enacted Law 2232, which legislated making single-use plastics reusable, compostable, or recyclable by 2030. (3, 4)

In addition, training youth and teachers on plastics helps raise awareness among the public and policymakers about the environmental consequences of plastic pollution, fostering a broader commitment to sustainable practices. Training on plastics also empowers future environmentalists to confront plastics and offers them opportunities to create meaningful change through advocacy, innovation, and collective action. Effective advocacy and policy change can regulate plastic use, promote recycling, and incentivize industries to adopt more sustainable practices.

Tackling plastic pollution now will ensure a cleaner and healthier environment for future generations while protecting natural resources and biodiversity. Not doing anything about plastics is a formula for more distress and damage to our water, our land, and our bodies.

1. Statista, Plastic Waste Facts US
2 . Plastic Oceans International, Plastic Oceans Facts
3. Colombian Law 2232 in English
4. Colombian Law 2232 in Spanish