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The Plastic Polluter

An employee ignores, or even mocks, the company's green initiatives.

Start Dilemma

Preview

You run a small business that values sustainability. After several of your employees pitched in to buy a refill station, you gifted reusable bottles to the whole team. One employee turned your gift into a flower vase. This person continues to bring single-use plastic water bottles to work every day, ignoring your company’s green initiatives and causing quiet frustration among staff who feel their efforts are being undermined or even mocked.

What do you do?

Put up a sign in the office that says "No single-use water bottles."

Ask the staff to pitch in to buy a vase for this employee's desk.

Useful Language

Students can access a Useful Language drawer at any time during the activity. The key vocabulary and sentence stems will help your learners express their thoughts and opinions.

Keywords

sustainability: using resources in a way that protects the planet and doesn’t harm the future
pitch in: to help out or pay together with others
initiative: a new plan or action to solve a problem or make something better
undermine: to weaken someone’s efforts or make them less effective, often secretly or indirectly
mock: to turn into a joke or make fun of
passive aggressive: acting angry or upset without saying it directly

Sentence Stems