Students at Ichimura High School first joined this event three years ago at the suggestion of 5 students who had been studying microplastics in class. This year, 23 students from Ichimura participated, along with Mr. Davis, Mr. Kraus, and Mr. Otsu. While we were gathering at the location, we were surprised to meet 4 of the alumni who started this project, and to hear that the fifth alumni was volunteering on the Noto Peninsula. Here are some of the impressions from our student participants.
- Seeing the microplastics that we learned about in class and on TV made us feel closer to the marine problem. No matter how much we remove, we can never completely remove them, and we were able to understand the seriousness of the microplastic problem and the difficulty of improving it.
- We were surprised at the amount of trash that was thrown away during this activity. We also felt refreshed after seeing the cleaned up Fujimae Tidal Flats after the activity.
- We learned the fun of working together with the same goal of cleaning up. We found a lot of trash while cleaning. However, some of it got stuck in the gaps between the rocks and we gave up trying to get it out.
- Cleaning is Fun! (Mr. Davis)
