The POP beach cleanup story
Beach trash and what happens after collection
Read the words in the picture
The POP beach cleanup story
- Plastic Offset Program
- It's not just individuals like you and me who need to make changes to tackle the single use plastic crisis - businesses also need to do their part!
- To help protect our ocean playground Starboard started their very own Plastic Offset Program, POP for short. Starboard's POP teams are paid to collect trash from the beaches, sort it into different materials and dispose of them properly, so they don't end up back in our oceans!
- So far there are POP chapters in Thailand (near Starboard HQ) and in Myanmar. But we aren't done yet! Maybe soon there will be crews cleaning beaches all over the world!
Beach trash and what happens after collection
- Below are some of the types of trash our POP teams pick up on the beach.
- Have you seen any of these in the environment near you?
- PLASTIC BAGS
- CAR TYRES
- FOOD PACKAGING
- ALUMINIUM CANS
- OLD CLOTHES
- PLASTIC STRAWS
- GLASS BOTTLES
- PLASTIC BOTTLES
- GHOST FISHING NETS
- PLASTIC FLIP-FLOPS & SLIPPERS
- Plastic Bottles, Aluminium cans & glass bottles are the most common recyclables. You probably recycle these at your home.
- Not-so-fun fact: Abandoned nets are called 'ghost nets' because they keep catching fish and other marine animals long after they have been lost at sea - as if they are being used by ghost fishermen.
- Our POP team works with the Trash Hero team in Pattani to turn the foam slippers they collect on the beach into brand new ones!
- After all the trash has been collected, it is sorted (just like above) so that it can be recycled or disposed of properly.
- Sadly most of the trash our POP team collect isn't recyclable. This waste either goes to an energy plant where it is burnt to produce electricity, or goes to landfill.
- Neither of these options are that great for the environment, but they are much better than leaving it in the ocean!
There's still work to do after picking up trash on the beach
What do people who clean beaches actually do? You might first picture them putting trash into bags, but lots of work comes after that. The WingKids workbook introduces Starboard's Plastic Offset Program, POP for short, and shows how trash is collected, sorted and dealt with.
The POP teams in this story are paid to collect trash from beaches. Their job is to sort the trash by material and deal with it properly so it doesn't end up back in the ocean. The workbook describes their work in Thailand and Myanmar, and explains that not only individuals but also businesses need to help reduce the plastic problem.
The next page shows all sorts of things: cans, bottles, straws, nets, shoes, tires and even clothes. Someone once used all of them, but once they're dumped on a beach, they have to be handled differently. As you read this story, look not only at what gets picked up, but also at why it's sorted and where it needs to go.
Into the story
Look at the things that washed up on the beach
Find the plastic bottles, glass bottles and aluminium cans in the picture. What shape are the food packaging, bags and straws in? You'll also see old clothes, slippers and tires. Find things you know, and imagine where they were first used. You can't know who they really belonged to, but you can see how the everyday things we use can become trash in nature.
Learn about the problem with nets nobody owns
Fishing nets that are lost or dumped are called “ghost nets.” That's because fish and other animals can keep getting caught in them underwater, even when no one uses them anymore. It doesn't mean there are scary ghosts. Think about what problem this name helps you remember. If you ever find a net like the one in the picture, don't pull it out yourself. Tell a grown-up where it is.
Sort the materials after collecting
The POP team sorts the trash they collect by type, to find ways to recycle it or deal with it properly. The workbook also explains that a lot of what they collect is hard to recycle, so some of it goes to energy plants or landfill. That means picking something up doesn't turn it all into new things. You need to check separately how your own town handles trash, rather than using an example from another country as it is.
See both ways: using things again and throwing away less
The workbook also shares how the POP team works with the Trash Hero team in Pattani, Thailand, to turn foam slippers collected on the beach into new slippers. It's a way of finding a new use for thrown-away materials. But not everything collected can be changed like this, so choosing to throw away less in the first place matters too. After reading about POP's work, pick one thing at home you'd like to use for a long time, and talk about it.
Let’s talk
What do you think?
- What problem does collecting trash solve, and what problem does sorting it by material solve?
- If you picked one thing from the picture, what choice could change before it gets thrown away?
Where the pictures and activities come from
WingKids workbook p. 48 ↗ · p. 49 ↗
The pictures are pages from the original workbook. The steps and questions below are Starboard Korea’s notes to help families use them together.
Save the original workbook ↓