The Plastic Free July curriculum guide is a set of lessons and activities to engage students in learning about single use plastic. This guide was developed in 2014 and contains some great lesson ideas that are still relevant today.

Learning objective

Each lesson includes a lesson description, lesson aim and curriculum links.

Waste Wise Schools Program, in collaboration with the WMRC Earth Carers, has developed a Plastic Free July (PFJ) activity guide to help schools raise awareness about the environmental impacts of single-use plastic and how to take action. The PFJ activity guide is linked to English, Mathematics and Science in the Australian Curriculum. It is divided into three sections: Foundation to Year 2, Year 3 to Year 6 and a secondary school leadership package. Each section includes four activities teachers can complete according to their own planning timetable. The secondary school leadership package guides students through running a campaign to encourage as many students, teachers and family members to reduce the amount of plastic they use.

Single-use plastic includes all plastic packaging that’s intended only to be used once and then discarded. Refusing all single- use plastic can seem daunting, so the curriculum linked activities focus on reducing the top four - plastic bags, plastic bottles, straws and plastic lids.

FOUNDATION TO YEAR 2 ACTIVITIES  

  • Plastic and marine life  
  • Single-use plastic  
  • What’s in the bin?  
  • Waste free lunches

YEAR 3 TO YEAR 6 ACTIVITIES

  • Movement of plastic and marine life  
  • Single-use plastic  
  • What’s in the bin?  
  • Waste free lunches  
  • Pledges

SECONDARY SCHOOL LEADERSHIP: CAN YOUR SCHOOL REDUCE PLASTIC USE?  

  • Pledge forms  
  • Waste audit results