We had a fabulous time sharing ideas and getting to know the members of the Earth Kids last week. We are positive that together we can make a difference. Let’s celebrate our connection to each other, nature and the Earth with a yoga pose and salutation, “Hello Sun! Hello Earth! Hello Rain! Hello Wind! Hello Ocean! Hello Wind! Hello Rain! Hello Earth! Hello Sun! Namaste.”

This week will will learn about Boyan Slat and the difference he is making on our planet Earth. At age 16, Slat came across more plastic than fish while diving in Greece. He decided to devote a high school project for deeper investigation into ocean plastic pollution and why it was considered impossible to clean up. In high school, he came up with the idea to build a passive system, using the circulating ocean currents to his advantage and clean the plastic from the ocean waters.

It is now believed that there are 5.25 trillion pieces of plastic debris in the ocean. Of that mass, 269,000 tons (float on the surface, while some four billion plastic microfibers per square kilometer litter the deep sea. About a million bags every minute across the globe, or 150 bags a year for every person on earth.  And the number is rising!!! Can you imagine?

The village of Piermont has become Rockland County’s first municipality to adopt a plastic bag and Styrofoam ban! Read below to understand more about this ban.

• Bans the distribution of single-use plastic bags and styrofoam containers by any Piermont retailer or restaurant. Those businesses may continue to distribute recyclable paper bags. Thin produce/meat bags, garment bags and dog waste bags are exempt.
• An owner or local manager is notified in writing with a first-time warning, and has 10  business days to come into compliance. This means they cannot offer people who buy things at their store a plastic bag or styrofoam container and they did not follow the law.
• A fine of up to $150 will be issued if the business doesn’t come into compliance within 10 days.
• A fine of up to $150 will be issued each day afterward if noncompliance continues. If a store does not stop using plastic bags or styrofoam containers for 10 days how much is their fine?

During this week’s meeting we will create a sea animal from discarded materials. This idea was inspired by Washed Ashore: art to save the sea. Washed Ashore builds and exhibits aesthetically powerful art to educate a global audience about plastic pollution in oceans and waterways and spark positive changes in consumer habits.

Keeping that intention in mind, we will be reusing items that would either go into the recycling bin or the trash bin and possibly find their way into the oceans. While crafting, we will discuss ways we can make a difference at William O. Schaefer.

Earth Kids will be collecting plastic bags and recycling them correctly. Please bring your plastic bags to the library. Thank you.