Students Create Posters about the Environment

Briarcliff Middle School students are very passionate about protecting the earth. In honor of Earth Month, seventh graders in Jessica Dubin’s art class have been creating posters featuring artwork and slogans depicting various environmental issues that they are passionate about.

Students began by drawing a first draft on folded pieces of paper. The artwork can be either vertical or horizontal and must include a catchy slogan and artful lettering.

“Students are also required to incorporate at least one recycled material into their work,” Ms. Dubin said. “For example, one student is using candy and gum wrappers in her poster. Another student is using a brown paper bag as a background.”

Ms. Dubin gave the students some ideas for their posters, such as pollinators and insects, animals, bikes and scooters instead of cars, plants or trash items such as bottles and plastic bags that can be recycled.

Hannah was working on a poster about the slow fashion movement.

“The slow fashion movement is a big passion of mine,” she said. “Fast Fashion causes a lot of carbon emissions and creates a lot of water waste from dye factories and also uses child labor. Every fashion trend results in creating more and more clothes.”

With slow fashion, according to Hannah, you can avoid buying more clothes by recycling or reusing clothes, donating them or buying clothes that are sustainably-made, so you can avoid the landfill.

“For my poster I am drawing a t-shirt that will show issues related to slow fashion, such as plastic bottles and water waste, and I will add child labor and maybe also add some facts,” Hannah said. “For example, to make one pair of jeans, you need to use over 3,000 gallons of water! I learned some of these facts here at Briarcliff, but I also read a lot of papers. Columbia University’s Climate School has really good papers about the subject.”

When students complete their drafts they will then draw their posters on a larger poster board and add color using colored pencils, crayons or markers.

As part of the project, students must also pledge to do one thing to reduce their own waste.

“We will put the posters in the hallway to share with the school community to promote Earth Day and bring awareness to the subject of environmentalism,” Ms. Dubin said.