Waste Not, Want Not

Plastic

Whāinga ako: Lesson Goals

We are learning to understand the human impact on environment and assess our individual role in this as consumers.
We are Identifying how human rights are impacted by plastic pollution

Mahi - work

Life cycle of a plastic bottle

How plastic is made, what it is and what happens to it after it is used. Watch the video below to learn about the process that goes into making a plastic bottle.

Consider the use of this plastic bottle.

How often do you buy/use single use bottles?
How do you feel about plastic use? Why do you feel this way?

Think about this individually and then discuss this as a class.

Is it really so bad to use plastic?

Perspectives

Video #1

Video #2

Discussion points

What perspective do we see in Video #1?
What perspective do we see in Video #2?
What are a couple of main points that were made for each side?
Has either of these videos changed your view or made you more opinionated on plastic? If so, why?

Māori Perspective

Kaitiakitanga o te moana - Guardians of the sea

For hundreds of years the ocean has given Māori food and tools, as well as great places to live, swim and play. Māori respect the ocean and often call it Tangaroa, the son of Ranginui (sky father) and Papatūānuku (Earth mother). Before ocean voyages or before fishing it is common for Māori to recite karakia to ask for protection from Tangaroa and offer thanks while they carry out these tasks.

As well as great voyages, Tangaroa played an important part in the lives of early Māori. When Pakeha began arriving in New Zealand they recorded down how skillful the Māori people were at fishing and diving for food. Fish was one of the main sources of protein for Māori.

Apart from food, Tangaroa also provided many other things that were used in day to day living. Shark and whale oil was used to preserve birds in hue (containers), whale bones were used to make weapons and jewellery, and shells from the paua were used on carved whare tipuna (meeting houses).

The sea as a taonga/treasure

The sea is a Taonga Tuku iho – a treasure that has been passed down from past generations. By looking after this treasure, the ocean will keep providing for the future.

https://www.learnz.org.nz/sustainableseas181/bg-easy-f/kaitiakitanga-o-te-moana

Ocean Garbage Patches

Around the globe there are places where the currents have collected rubbish into floating garbage patches. One of the biggest in the world is the Great Pacific Garbage Patch.

Where does it come from?

A majority of the rubbish (80%) comes from land- littering, poor management of rubbish dumps and extreme events such as hurricanes and tsunamis. The rest (20%) comes from fishing vessels (nets, containers, even abandoned boats.)

Some of the rubbish in the garbage patch has been there for many years.

A nintendo from 1995 was fished out

A crate dating back to 1977

Need more information?

Watch this video.

How plastic pollution affects human rights:

Play the Fish Game Simulation — The Cloud Institute for Sustainability Education

There are people groups in the pacific who rely on fishing for food and income. Plastic pollution affects the quality of food they have and it also does things like break motors on boats (plastic getting tangled etc.) so people struggle to make a living or feed their families because of this issue.
Ingesting (eating or breathing) plastic, affects our health. See link.
Putting more plastic into the environment changes how future generations will able to experience life in our country. Protecting our environment/animals will enrich the lives of future generations.
Māori people/Mana Whenua have strong links to our land and animals, they are tied up in their culture and history (e.g. many albatross die from ingesting plastic, and the albatross is sacred). Removing certain animals or polluting rivers/lakes/oceans impacts the identity/way of life for native people.
This means their right to access to culturally significant places and objects is being restricted by plastic pollution.