New Name, New Look, New Challenge!

This year's Challenge uses our digital skills to explore SDG #3, Good Health and Well-being.

Start The Challenge!

  • Plastic

  • Where?

  • Rivers

  • Problem

  • Data

  • Global

  • Solution

  • Quiz

  • Share

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Data

Using data to identify

the plastic waste in your life.

How much plastic do you use?

You’ve followed the story of plastic: from its beginning as a product in the store, to its end as waste and pollution. You’ve seen the impact it has on people, animals, and the environment when it isn’t managed properly.

Now you can use data science to help understand where plastic waste is found in your own life. This is the first step towards reducing pollution.

You will put data science into action: collect data about your personal plastic use, organize it, and analyze it to help understand how you can make a difference.

Collect your own plastic waste data!

Instructions

  • 1. Identify the plastic products you most commonly use. You’ll want to find at least 5 examples. Keep in mind that you will focus your solution on one of these products.
  • 2. Enter the item’s name and weight into the spreadsheet. Not sure of the weight? We have a handy table to help you! (Note: The weights provided are all approximate)
  • 3. Estimate how many of these you throw out, either per week, month or year.
  • 4. Watch as the table automatically calculates the amount of plastic by weight per year and displays this information using a bar graph below.

If you leave the page, don’t worry! Your data will be saved and you can access it when you come back to the page later.

Weight Lookup Chart!

How many water bottles

does a beaver weigh?

A bar chart with a single bar, like the one you created above, can provide a lot of information. But bar charts often use more than one bar to compare different categories.

Let's see this in action! Below, compare the amount of plastic you throw away each year to the weight of some Canadian animals to visualize just how much plastic that bar represents.

Mini Challenge

Click on any of the animals to see the average estimated weight of that animal, plotted alongside the weight of your plastic waste. How many animals-worth of plastic do you throw away a year?

Let’s Reflect…

Looking at the bar chart, you can see how even plastic weighing very little can amount to a lot of weight when used consistently over the years.

  1. What do you think the impact is when this kind of data is collected from thousands, or even millions of people?
  2. How can technology help us understand big problems in simpler ways, especially when there are a lot of calculations to be done?
  3. How do you think plastic pollution affects the habitats of these Canadian animals?

Quick Facts!

Did you know:

Size doesn’t matter when it comes to plastic pollution - even Orcas are affected by plastic waste.1

Data dive!

Accurate data helps algorithms create better AI systems.

How does data connect to Artificial Intelligence (AI) and algorithms? What’s most important to understand is how necessary good data is to create a strong AI system that helps us solve problems, find solutions, and come up with new ideas.

To create reliable AI systems to help us solve problems, they need:

  • Reliable and accurate data (like today’s!)
  • Huge amounts of data, and in different forms

Another good example of using AI to reduce plastic pollution would be to use Satellite images as data to localize plastic in the oceans and start the process of cleaning up.2

You’ve completed this step of the challenge - great job!

You’ve reflected on your own plastic use and how it can add up. You can now move on to the Global section to see how the world is coming together to prevent plastic pollution.

Problem
Global

Take it further

Not in a rush and want to take it a step further?

In this extension activity, you will reflect on how plastic waste differs between countries.

Keep exploring - Data stories!
Plastic Pollution by Hannah Ritchie and Max Roser3

Use this infographic to reflect on these questions:

General

Which countries produce the least and the most waste per person? Why do you think countries with no coasts seem to produce much less plastic waste?

Community

Do you think this map reflects the reality of plastic consumption in Canada?

Ethical

Who do you think is responsible for reducing plastic waste: the countries who consume the most, or the countries who produce the most?

Problem
Global

Sources

Want to dive deeper or just explore the sources?

We provide you with all the page sources and references along with additional related resources in one convenient location.

Problem
Global

Due to the interactive nature of the online #kids2030 Challenge platform, it is not supported for mobile. To complete the #kids2030 Challenge, please use a desktop, laptop, or tablet in landscape mode.

Thanks!