I am a Materials Girl

Category: Sustainability

Tom Fitz Background

​Tom Fitz is a distinguished American wildlife cinematographer, producer, and director with over 35 years of experience capturing the natural world, and we had the opportunity to hear him speak at our school this past week. His acclaimed work has been featured by major broadcasters such as PBS, BBC, National Geographic, and Discovery, earning him four Primetime Emmy Awards, two BAFTA Awards, and an induction into the Florida Artists Hall of Fame in 2021​. In 2008, Tom co-founded Schoolyard Films, Inc., a nonprofit organization dedicated to environmental education. The company produces high-quality natural history and environmental films tailored for K–12 classrooms, each accompanied by study guides aligned with educational standards. Fitz’s passion for wildlife filmmaking and education has taken him across all seven continents and five oceans, including challenging environments like the polar regions. His commitment to making environmental education accessible continues to impact students and teachers across the country including my own school.

The presentation

I thoroughly enjoyed Tom Fitz’s presentation: his soothing voice and clear passion for the environment made it incredibly engaging and impactful. One of the most powerful takeaways for me was the alarming fact that, if current trends continue, there will be more plastic in the ocean than fish by 2050. That really stuck with me and reinforced just how urgent this issue is. As someone who’s already very conscious of plastic use and pollution (thanks in large part to my mom, who’s an Earth Science teacher), I found this presentation both eye-opening and motivating. It inspired me to keep making sustainable choices and to encourage others to do the same. Fitz’s talent as a cinematographer was also undeniable: the clips he shared were visually stunning and perfectly supported his message. It was such a meaningful way to mark Earth Day, and I can’t say enough good things about it!

THe solution

Plastic pollution in the ocean is a growing environmental crisis, and materials science is necessary in finding solutions. Each year, millions of tons of plastic (made from synthetic polymers designed for durability) end up in marine environments, where they can exist for centuries. These plastics don’t biodegrade easily and often break into harmful microplastics that affect marine life and can eventually enter the human food chain. However, there’s hope. In his presentation, Tom Fitz shared an exciting development: scientists have discovered a type of fungus capable of biodegrading plastic. This breakthrough offers a promising, nature-based solution to reducing plastic waste on Earth. By combining innovations like this with the work of materials scientists developing sustainable alternatives and smarter waste systems, we have a real chance to combat the plastic crisis and protect our oceans!

Tracking How Plastic Moves in the Coastal Ocean - Eos

Works Cited

About — Schoolyard Films. “Schoolyard Films.” Schoolyard Films, 2021, www.schoolyardfilms.org/syf-about. Accessed 24 Apr. 2025.

Wheeling, Kate. “Tracking How Plastic Moves in the Coastal Ocean.” Eos, 21 Dec. 2020, eos.org/research-spotlights/tracking-how-plastic-moves-in-the-coastal-ocean.

their story

More than half of my extended family lives in Virginia, and it is always fun to travel up there. I recently spent a week with my grandparents, which, as expected, involved a lot of card playing. They are a part of a church who decided it was their mission to collect plastic bottle caps, and through a program, create a bench. We went to their church to check out their collection, and there were more than fifteen trash bags filled with caps from bottles and containers. A nearby church had completed benches so we went and checked them out. They gave my grandparents the inspiration to do it themselves. Through Green Tree Plastics’s ABC Program my grandparents and their church are currently collecting two hundred pounds of plastic bottle caps to transform into a bench. As easy as it may sound, there are many details that are required to fulfill this final goal.

the details with the bottles

Two hundred pounds is a lot of bottle caps. That requires a lot of time and participators to obtain this much plastic and ultimately obtain a bench.

Step 1: Fill out a registration, like the Facebook page, and promise care for the Earth and the people who are helping with the work.

Step 2: Collect the caps by following the acceptable caps list. (Acceptable ex: milk cartons, detergent, drink bottle. Unacceptable ex: metal, soap pumps, any container). Caps must be clean and dry.

Step 3: Weigh sorted bottle caps.

Step 4: Make an appointment 3 weeks in advance, confirm the order, and contact the office through email.

Step 5: Deliver the caps and take a bench home.

This is a great program helping our Earth repurpose a material of great use and reuse: plastic. Check them out at: www.greentreeplastics.com/abc-program/ to help bottles turn to benches.

Here are bags filled with bottles in my grandparents’ church. Once they reach two hundred pounds, they will take it to Green Tree Plastics and get a bench in return.

This is what a completed bench looks like. These two benches were at a nearby church who had also done this project. Typically, the benches are grey, but there is a color option if the customer is willing to pay more.

source

“ABC Promise Partnership.” Greentreeplastics, 30 Dec. 2021, www.greentreeplastics.com/abc-program/.

the sustainable shoes

I am a 14 year old girl, so it is not exactly a surprise if I said I loved shoes. I think that the variety of shoes is so fun to match with different outfits and different occasions. There are so many shoes out there, it is incredible. I am sure people are very familiar with the more popular brands like Nike or Converse. What some may not recognize are Allbirds and Rothy’s. Rothy’s are made 100% from recycled materials and Allbirds are made from fully sustainable wool. Plastic and other materials are being used all over the world and polluting the Earth. Plastic takes about 500 years to decompose, but even then, it never fully disappears. This is why it is important to repurpose plastic, and instead use more sustainable products, rather than let it go to waste. There is a huge patch of garbage in the Pacific Ocean about twice the size of Texas that just sits there because most of the trash is not biodegradable. For these reasons, plastic must not go to waste, and this is why companies such as Rothy’s and Allbirds set out to fix this sustainability problem by creating sustainable shoes.

the materials

In 2016, Allbirds were created to make environmentally friendly and sustainable shoes. They use a soft New Zealand merino wool to create part of the shoe. They also use Allbirds Plant Leather which is said to be a sustainable alternative leather that is 100% plastic free and only contains natural materials like rubber, plant oils, and agricultural byproducts such as rice hulls and citrus peels (Husband). For the midsole of the shoe they use Allbirds’s SweetFoam derived from sugarcane. These materials help Allbirds achieve their mission of sustainable footwear for a better future. Also launching in 2016, Rothy’s has a similar goal, but instead they create their shoes from recycled materials. Rothy’s are made from single-use plastic water bottles and marine plastic (McFadden). It is said that they have helped keep 100 tons of plastic from entering the ocean (McFadden). Our environment is slowly getting covered in waste. If there are things we can do now to prevent it, we should, even if that entails buying yet another pair of shoes.

These are Rothy’s sustainable shoes and the materials used to make the shoes. Source: https://www.retailtouchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Rothys-ingredients-900×540.jpg

source

Husband, Laura. “Allbirds, NFW Unveil Plastic-Free Plant Leather ‘Material First’ for Footwear.” Just Style, 13 Sept. 2022, www.just-style.com/news/allbirds-nfw-unveil-plastic-free-plant-leather-material-first-for-footwear/.

McFadden, Mimi. “Rothy’s Review: Are They Worth the Cost?” The Atlas Heart, 15 Feb. 2023, theatlasheart.com/rothys-review/#:~:text=Unlike%20other%20shoe%20brands%20that,in%20their%20shoes%20and%20handbags.