CRAFTING BIOGRAPHIES FOR PLASTIC ARTIFACTS
15-16 February 2024
archaeology of plastics: workshops
During this workshop, students crafted biographies about the everyday plastic artifacts they use at home and in the classroom. For their formal presentation, as a group they focused on the Crayola marker. These artifacts are made from several different types of plastics, though the company is, for the most part, not forthcoming about the types of plastics used. Crayola states that the cap is made from polypropylene. As for the marker’s five other components — a color solution, porous plastic nib, plastic barrel, a cotton filament (ink reservoir), and plastic end plug — the company states that “specific ingredient information is proprietary.“ Crayola produces more than 700 million markers a year, none of which can be recycled. Instead, markers end up in landfills, incinerators, or the environment. Students’ video presentation, a TikTok challenge of sorts conceptualized by the wonderful Aguamarina teacher Ms. Dina Lewis, encouraged Crayola to stop greenwashing and develop a sustainable end of product life solution.
SCREENING FOR MICROPLASTICS
10-11 April 2025
The “Screening for Microplastics” workshop was created in collaboration with Lauren Novorska, an undergraduate at the University of Miami.*
Screening is an archaeological method that can demonstrate the presence of microplastics in soil. Generally, archaeologists use mesh metal screens with openings that vary in size. For this activity, participants stacked two screens on top of each other, a 3 mm and 1 mm.
Lauren first sampled soil from various landscaped areas around UMiami’s campus and the Aguamarina school. Samples were then placed in 16 oz. mason jars. During the workshop, students screened the jars’ contents. One group used a wet method that involved washing soil through the screens with water. The other groups dry screened by sifting soil in screens placed over buckets. Students next collected microplastics using tweezers. Among the identifiable plastic artifacts were fertilizer beads, which are coated in plastic resin, and confetti.
Once screening was complete, students listed possible solutions to prevent the spread of microplastics in soil. For the final presentation, they made eco-friendly confetti so people could continue to celebrate without harming the environment.
*For her senior thesis, Lauren is studying fertilizer beads, which have a plastic resin coating, in soil sampled from college campuses across Florida.
