by Noor Azam-Naseeruddin
7th Grade at Renaissance Home school (Washington, DC)
First Place
Dipping a pastry brush into the cup, I paint the papaya and starfruit pasteles with the gelatin and sugar mixture until they are glossy.
“Those smell wonderful,” mom says, coming in with an armful of fragrant Frangipani flowers from the
garden.
I beam.
“Sarah and Kai should be here soon,” my mother says.
I scowl.
“Please be nice. They’re going to be here while Daddy and and I visit Tutu.” Tutu is my grandmother.
“Why did Uncle Kai have to get married?” I ask gloomily.
Just then, I hear the sound of a car. “It’s Uncle Kai!” I shout running outside.
Kai jumps out of the car and swings me around.
“Hi, Noodles!” he says rumpling my hair.
“Uncle Kai!” I shriek embarrassed.
“Hi Leia!” Sarah says trying to give me a hug.
“Hi,” I say, squirming away.
“Are you ready?” I grab Kai’s hand leading him to the dock with Sarah trailing behind.
Kai helps Sarah into the boat and hands her a life jacket.
“Where would you like to go?” I ask starting up the motor.
“Anywhere. I’m just glad to be out of the lab,” Sarah says.
I clear the harbor then let the engine rip. Minutes later, we ease closer to what looks like a swirling soup of plastic trash held back by a giant red cord.
“The cord keeps the garbage from washing up in Honolulu,” I explain.
“I’ve always wanted to see this,” Sarah says looking out at the glittering sea of trash.
“You’ve always wanted to see the Pacific Garbage Patch?” I ask wrinkling my nose.
Fishing nets, plastic bags, bottles, umbrella handles, and shards of plastic float on the surface. An albatross with a plastic ring stuck around its neck picks at something in the water.
“Yes. I’m studying microplastics in Miami,” Sarah explains.
What’s microplastics?” I ask.
Sarah pulls a small stocking net out of her pocket, reaches over the side and scoops up a little water.
“When you eat seafood, you’re eating some of this,” she says opening the stocking. “It’s particles of plastic. It’s eaten by fish because it looks like food.”
“Is all this trash from people who don’t recycle?” I ask.
“Partly, but plastic can only be recycled a few times, sometimes only once, before it ends up in theocean or a landfill. All the plastic ever made in the last fifty years is still with us.”
That night, after we devour mom’s delicious luau stew, I bring out the pasteles.
“You made these?!” Sarah and Kai exclaim.
“There must be a way to create an alternative,” I say absentmindedly.
“An alternative? No way,” Uncle Kai says. “These are perfect”.
“Not pasteles!” I laugh. “Is there a way to create a biodegradable plastic?” I ask Sarah.
“I’m testing recipes to create a technology to replace petrochemical plastics”.
“Recipes?” I ask her. “I thought you were an engineer?”
“I’m a chemical engineer and I have a hunch you will be too one day.
“But how is that technology?” I ask.
“A technology is anything created by a person that solves a problem. Scientists are testing different foods to see if we can use corn or orange peels to make biodegradable plastic.”
“Maybe I can create a new technology to help solve this problem too!” I say excitedly.
“I’m going to give you a tool that I use. It’s called the engineering design process.”
“What’s that?” I ask.
“Engineers use it to test their ideas.
“First, identify the problem and ask questions just the way you are doing.”
“Then, imagine the solutions.”
“Next, make a detailed plan and start testing.”
“You repeat the steps and improve your idea with all the new information you get each time,” she explains.
“Cool!” I say grabbing my notebook and writing: “Can I solve our plastics problem by creating a plastic that’s durable and biodegradable? Something that can be composted or that would melt if it was in water?”
“What did you use to make your pasteles so shiny?” Sarah asks.
“Gelatin,” I tell her.
“Gelatin is one of the ingredients we’re testing. Come on,” she says.
I grab my notebook and we head into the kitchen.
Following Sarah’s instructions, I mix three packets of gelatin with six tablespoons of cold water. A thick mixture forms. I heat it over the stove for about one minute, until it gets a bit runny and then pour itonto a plate.
The next morning, I race downstairs expecting to find perfection, but when I try to peel it off the plate,it’s stiff and rips easily.
Sarah comes into the kitchen. “How does it look?” she asks peering over my shoulder.
“It’s really brittle,” I tell her, “I wonder if oil would help. Oil makes cupcakes soft”.
I pull out all the oils we have. “Macadamia, coconut, kukui,” I say listing them.
“There’s something else I want to try too,” I say rummaging in a drawer.
“Glycerin. I use it when I make soap bubbles when I babysit.”
Sarah smiles encouragingly.
“It makes the bubbles thicker, so they don't pop right away”.
I start a new batch, add three tablespoons of glycerin to the gelatin and water, heat it and then pour it onto a plate.
“What about other ingredients?” I ask. Gelatin is a thickener, but so is cornstarch,” I say, looking through the pantry. “We also have potato starch and I use agar when I make gummies.”
“Baking has taught you a lot about the chemical properties of food,” Sarah says, “Keep experimenting.”
Later when I peel my glycerin plastic off the plate, it’s thick and durable. And, it’s in the shape of the plate. The only problem is that it’s too slippery. Next time, I’ll try just a teaspoon of glycerin.
It takes about a week to test all the different ingredients in the pantry. I have samples in different stages drying on the counter. I put a few in the compost bin to see how long they take to biodegrade and one in some salt water. I’m keeping detailed notes.
When my parents return, we prepare Hawaiian fried chicken that I serve on my biodegradable dishes.
“These plates are amazing, Leia,” my parents say.
“If the plates could become chicken feed, it would complete the cycle,” I say, eyeing our backyard chickens.
Sarah beams at me.
“I’d like to make biodegradable sandwich bags for school,” I say, “If the chickens can eat them, with a little engineering, so could we!”
“Why eat gummy bears, when you can eat your gummy bag!” Kai says.
We all groan.
Annotated Bibliography
One Plastic Bag: Isatou Ceesay and the Recycling Women of the Gambia.
Paul, Miranda. Scholastic Press, 2017.
This is a true story about Isatou Ceesay in the Gambia and how she helped solved the problem of plastic waste in her village.
Trash Vortex: How Plastic Pollution Is Choking the World's Oceans.
Smith-Llera, Danielle. Compass Point Books, January 1, 2018.
Millions of tons of plastic end up in our oceans every year. Some of it floats and travels slowly with the currents, endangering the health of marine animals.
Plastic Ocean: How a Sea Captain’s Chance Discovery Launched a Determined Quest to Save the Oceans
Moore, Charles. Avery, September 4, 2012.
In 1997, environmentalist Charles Moore discovered the world's largest collection of floating trash— the Great Pacific Garbage Patch ("GPGP")—while sailing from Hawaii to California.From milk jugs and abandoned fishing gear to polymer molecules small enough to penetrate human skin and be unknowingly inhaled, plastic is now suspected of contributing to a host of ailments, including infertility, autism, thyroid dysfunction, and certain cancers.
Pesky Plastic: An Environmental Story
Colon De Mejias, Leticia. Great Books 4 Kids, September 22, 2013.
Plastic bags are treacherous for marine life. Even if you don’t live near the ocean, throwing away a plastic bag can be harmful to ocean life because of where it can end up.
Precision Engineered Products
What are biodegradable plastics? I learned how they breakdown in the environment from this article.
Biodegradable Plastic: Waste that eats itself
Aisling, Irwin. May 16, 2018.
This article questions if all biodegradable alternative plastics can really breakdown. They can’t and it might be dishonest for people to think that they can.