Madison High Students Trash School To Raise Awareness About Environmental Issues

James Madison High students wrapped their school in plastic Tuesday — creating Brooklyn’s longest recorded chain of plastic bags — to raise awareness about the dangers of unsustainable environmental practices.

More than 3,000 bags, tied together, were carried more than 800 meters around the perimeter of the school. The chain began in the auditorium and students guided it through the hallways, out the door and then hauled it around Quentin Road, up East 27th street, past the sports field and then back to the entryway. When the two ends linked together on the schoolhouse steps, it was ceremoniously cut to symbolize the students’ desire to “break the chain” of the harmful overuse of plastics..

“We want to show how much plastic we use and that it is damaging the environment,” Isabel Galindo, a junior, said as she helped move the chain around the school. “A lot of students think recycling isn’t that important. I hope this changes that.”

It took more than an hour to delicately thread the plastic chain around the school. However, students and teachers at Madison spent several months planning and preparing the project.

Madison senior Adonay Alarcon said he tied bags together for several hours every school day for more than a month.

“It was amazing to see it brought out today. It made everybody happy that we accomplished something and were able to inform other people that plastic bags are harmful to the environment,” he said.

The idea for the project was birthed in the school’s environmental science and botany classes at the beginning of the year. Teachers wanted students to identify an environmental problem, come up with a solution and then identify a way to raise awareness about the issue. Once the project got underway, excitement about the plan spread like wildfire and students throughout the school began bringing in plastic bags to build the chain, said environmental science teacher Jeanne Quarto.

“It was unbelievable how just one household could have so many plastic bags,” she said of the donations brought to the school.

The donated bags will be collected by Trex, a company that uses recycled materials to make composite wood. Madison High will continue to collecting plastic bags for the company. Students also handed out reusable canvas bags to those who bring in plastic ones.

“The main idea was to try to create change. So it was really cool to see a school of the is size come together. Every single person helped out,” said environmental science teacher Brian Schoenfelder.

Zuhaib Hussain, a sophomore, said he would like to see plastic bags banned. The City Council pushed last year to for a fee to use plastic bags, though the proposal has stalled, according to the New York Times.

“This shows we’re serious about protecting the environment,” he said. “It’s not good to throw away plastic bags. They end up in the ocean and animals can choke on them.”

The plastic bag chain was carried out during “Respect for All” week, when students participate in events meant to highlight values they are encouraged to embrace. Tuesday was “Harmony Day” at the school.

Borough President Eric Adams attended Tuesday’s ceremony and helped the students guide their chain around the school.

“During ‘Respect for All’ week, we want to look at creative ways of educating each other,” Adams said. “This exercise is a way of showing how we must tackle the problem of the over proliferation of plastic on our planet.”