Anabella ‘Sea’s A Change- Blog 4

➢ Topic

○ The topic of my capstone is attempting to go single use plastic free for 5

weeks and to also show how much single use plastic the average person

goes through in one week. I chose this topic because something I am very

passionate about is the ocean and our sea life. I came to a realization that

plastic is damaging our oceans every single day and if we do limit our

straw usage soon than our by the year of 2050, there will be more plastic

than water in our oceans.

➢ Explain Problem

○ My main concern that I wanted to address during this journey was to

inform people of how dangerous our plastic use can be towards the

ocean. I also wanted to show how much the average person uses single

use plastic in one week to give my audience the idea of how much plastic

we really use.

○ I identified that plastic is very harmful towards our oceans and if we do not

take action and inform our communities how dangerous plastic is then it

will only worsen by the second. I founded that promoting the dangers of

single use plastic can inspire many individuals and changing people's

outlook on the situation I am addressing is simple when it is something

you are passionate about.

○ The major thing I hoped to learn during this adventure was finding many

alternatives to single use plastic. My worst fear in this was that I would fail
 and use plastic but I learned that if you have all the right alternatives than

it is easy to be plastic free.

➢ Steps

○ In the beginning, I planned to work a lot more quickly such as making

posters and posting about the dangers of plastic. But it took me at least a

week to get into the groove of being plastic free so I was more focused on

being plastic free other than making posters and promoting my capstone.

○ Some obstacles I encountered were forgetting to place plastic in the bins

on some days so I would have to average the other days and add that to

the weight. I also found difficulty in being completely plastic free so I

decided to focus just on single use plastic items because going completely

plastic free was going to be too difficult.

○ In this process, I documented how much the average person used plastic

in one week. I collected plastic from my dads daily life and weighed it at

the end of each week. I made posters and put them up around my

neighborhood. I also went to a store that had all biodegradable friendly

products and showed many alternatives for plastic. The last thing I did was

post 2 posts a week on social media which showed specific facts and the

dangers of single use plastic.

➢ Your Own Reflection on Journey

○ I know I accomplished everything I wanted to such as going single use

plastic free, promoting the dangers of plastic in our oceans, creating

posters, and inspiring people to join me on being plastic free.

 ○ I learned that one action can change more than we think because if we

change than we are destined to change another person's life and it

becomes a domino effect. I also learned that if we do not take action on

this then our oceans will soon be dead and our sea life will no longer exist.

○ I challenged myself with this capstone because I lasted 5 weeks without

using any straws, plastic utensils, plastic cups, and plastic containers. I

learned that if I challenge myself and out my mind to something then I can

do anything.

○ I am mostly proud of inspiring other people because my goal was to

inspire at least 10 people into joining me and I exceeded my goal and

inspired 13 people.

○ Something I wish I could have done differently is participating in a beach

cleanup so that I can show my audience that plastic in oceans really does

exist and that there is a lot more plastic present in our oceans than we

think.

➢ Outcome Reflection

○ I was able to make a difference in my life and others lives. I changed my

lifestyle and I inspired people to change theirs as well. I know that I also

stopped using single use plastic to help keep our oceans healthier and

brighter and to possibly save a life of a sea animal.

○ If I had more time, I would definitely participate in cleanups on the beach

so that the plastic from the shore does not flow back into the sea creating

a wider problem.
➢ Closing Remarks

○ To upcoming seniors, choose something that you are passionate about

because it is a long process and if you are not doing your capstone on

something that you love then you will dread the whole process.