The CIS team visited the Sagan Kotturan CHamoru Cultural Center in Tumon on June 21. The nonprofit Guahan Sustainable Culture is hosting the summer program for middle school students at the center. As part of the Li’l Sprouts Academy experience, the participants grow, harvest, and prepare fruits and vegetables while engaging in social activities. They also learn about health, wellness, nutrition, environmental stewardship, and sustainability in a non-formal classroom set-up.  

At the outreach, Sea Grant outreach coordinator Tori Manley facilitated a marine debris tag game where participants had to pass through a simple obstacle course. Instead of using ropes or other materials as barriers, the outreach team used a rope fashioned from single-use plastic trash bags collected from the weekly village cleanups.  

As part of the game, the participants were asked to guess the number of bags that the team used to weave the ropes. While the participants were not able to guess the right number, they learned that several pieces of single-use plastic bags can leave a large footprint and can take up space in the landfill. Some of these single-use bags also often end up as marine litter. 

The team also demonstrated the proper way of sorting through waste and of identifying which materials to reuse and recycle. Through the exercise, the team was able to highlight the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and the importance of waste reduction to resource protection and conservation.  

CIS sustainability coordinator Phil Cruz told the more than 20 participants of the program, “Sustainability is by being more mindful of how much we consume --- whether it is the amount of trash that we throw or the plastic that we are using or the amount of energy that we are using at home or at school.” 

Cruz also encouraged the students to start conversations about sustainability and resource protection with their families and friends. “The ocean has a lot of microorganisms that we need to protect. It provides food for us and for our island community. It is important to make sure that all the things that we do here on the land do not negatively impact our ocean.”