There are some aspects of the climate crisis that are difficult for even adults to wrap our heads around.

Explaining the albedo feedback loop the ozone layer or the greenhouse gas effect to elementary aged children is highly unlikely to help them understand why we need to live more sustainably. In fact, it may lead them to believe that the forces destroying our environment are too big and scary to understand or change.

The last thing we want is for the students we educate to tune out during overwhelming lessons about the state of the planet. However, there are plenty of great ways to enable kids to have a tangible impact on the planet. One of these ways is through beach cleanups.

Beach cleanups are the perfect way for elementary classes in coastal areas (such as Victoria) to make a difference whilst having fun. Most kids will feel some degree of connection to their local beaches or the ocean and marine life, and seeing the amount of trash they can collect in a few hours on the beach can act as a real eye opener.

A few things to be mindful of when organizing beach cleanup include:

  • Ditching single use plastic gloves in favour of  gardening gloves. The hypocrisy of creating waste during a beach cleanup sends a poor message to kids. Ask parents and staff to lend gardening gloves to the school for the day of the field trip.
  • Supervison. Having a large group of  children by open water does carry some risk. Make sure you have a sufficient adult-to-child ratio, and ask for parent volunteers to come along.

In terms of bigger picture thinking, it is also important to make sure that your students know that their efforts and activism extend far beyond making the beach look more tidy. Possible extensions and debriefs to beach cleanups (especially for intermediate and middle years students) include:

  • Sorting out the trash on a “trash time line” based on how many years each material (plastic, cardboard, glass, ect. ) takes to decompose.
  • Having a class discussion able common themes they notice about the trash they pick up: how many pieces are produced by big brands? How many pieces were likely only used once? Have you used any items today that were also found on the beach?
  • Cleaning the trash and a class art instillation that makes a statement about the state of our oceans

Hitting the beach with a class set of garden gloves and a mission to collect as much trash as possible before the school bus comes back around may not solve the prevailing eco-crisis. However, it is a great way for students to become mindful of where their waste ends up and see that they CAN make a difference.