Nanuk Rescuers

Adult Advisor

Amanda Revak

Team Members

Amanda Westerlund (age:18)

Alex Shimm (age:17)

Taylor Marino (age:15)

Project Outline

One of the biggest problems polar bears face in the wild is wastes from humans. Most of our garbage is placed in plastic bags. Wildlife, perhaps even polar bears and seals, can eat these bags, thinking that they are the food, which will result in death from indigestion. The plastic bags also will never decompose, which means that these landfills will never disappear and will continue to be filled until they reach their capacity. Then new landfills will be made, taking over even more of the wildlife's land.

Our team will be giving canvas bags to local stores, to encourage people to not use plastic bags. The canvas bags can be used hundreds of times and will decompose whenever their lifespan is up. Along with these canvas bags, there will be informational displays showing how dangerous plastic bags can be and how they affect everyone. In order to stop the cycle of filling landfills with plastic, we must educate the public about the negative effects and show an alternative, safe method that will end the cycle.

Also, because only 1% of plastic bags that are used in stores everyday are recycled, the Nanuk Rescuers will be setting up bins to collect used, new, and damaged plastic bags to be recycled. Along with the recycling of plastic bags, we will also be collecting paper and plastic bottles to be recycled.

One way that we can teach the public about the need for recycling is to show what those everyday, used items can be made into. That way the objects are used more than once, and are made into something beautiful and useful. With the paper and plastic bags that we collect, our group will be making plastic bag yarn and recycled paper beads. These two items will be used to make key-chains that will be sold. The money earned will go towards the displays for the canvas bags and directly to Polar Bears International for conservation efforts.

Finally, to increase awareness of the plight of the polar bears and all wildlife in the world, Recycled paper Polar bear "paws" will be sold in local stores. These "paws" can be purchased by a customer, have their names written on them, and will be placed on the wall of the store so all can see how people are concerned about conserving our wonderful wildlife. The money earned will go to Polar Bears International for conservation efforts.