2025 STEAM EXPO

The Judges Committee has awarded this submission EXCELLENCE IN SUSTAINABLE DESIGN

PROJECT SUMMARY

Our project was all about fighting plastic pollution. Every time I visited Costanera, a riverfront in Paraguay, I saw so much plastic litter, and it bothered me. So, I decided to do something about it. We collected plastic bottles and turned them into art. It was fantastic to see how being creative could help keep the environment and animals clean and safe.

WHY?

90% of Paraguay's trash is in rivers that lead to oceans. Whenever I drive past rivers, I see single-use plastic trash thrown on the floor, so I decided to do something about it; I concluded that people should have trash as art in their homes instead of rivers and oceans.

HOW?

I found a person named Swapna Namboridi, who creates art from plastic, and I wanted to recreate that. I chose a simple design with five steps: 1. Get the plastic 2. Cut the plastic into circles 3. Make cones from the circles 4. Paint the canvas 5. Glue the plastic. I painted the canvas an ombré of teal, blue, and white. After stacking up the plastic, I added gold leaf prints to the canvas to create the illusion of a 3D flower. I also made posters that I put up in places like the maker space, library, cantina, and the art room

WHAT?

When you break down the process, you encounter many difficulties. We needed to find the right plastic suitable for me to cut, the right glue that would hold, and paint that would dry quickly. I found this juice shop called ""Juana & Los Jugos,"" which gave me 80 bottles in one day; if you do the math, 26,880 single-use plastics (for one shop) end up in oceans yearly. This project aims to reduce plastic waste and raise pollution awareness by putting up posters around campus.

RPReplay_Final1712189300 - Ria Shah.mov

RPReplay_Final1712189064 - Ria Shah.mov

SO WHAT?

The results of our project are essential because they show how we can make a difference in the world. By turning trash into art, we helped clean up the environment and support our community. This project taught us that even small actions can significantly impact when we work together. It taught us that we all have the power to make a difference.

WHAT'S NEXT?

After turning the plastic into art, you have nothing else to do with it. The solution I came up with is to turn this into a business, using the money to donate to charities or people in need. Having plastic as art hung up on the walls of your home is much better than going outside and seeing it caught up in a turtle neck, so if enough people start making this plastic into art together, we can make a difference in the world.

REFERENCES & ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

My mom and dad helped me a lot, and the Swapna Nambodiri’s page inspired most of my ideas. And finally, thank you to Juana & Los Jugos for supplying me with the plastic needed for my project.

JUDGES FEEDBACK

Your project is incredibly well-made! I can see that you put a lot of thought into it and the steps you took to create a solution were a perfect example of a well-applied design cycle. Also, projects like yours can really inspire others to take action. Keep up the fantastic work in making the environment cleaner and safer for everyone!

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