"Water or Plastic," a documentary on microplastics produced by Sacred Heart students, won First Place in the Watertopia category in a national environmental film competition on June 11, 2020. 

Sacred Heart students enrolled in Environmental Science and Digital Media collaborated to on a project to educate their peers and larger community on the origin of microplastics and their impact in Louisiana. Combining their primary research, insight from Dr. Mark Benfield from the Department of Oceanography & Coastal Sciences at LSU and their own storytelling and production skills, students created a documentary and entered it in an environmental film competition hosted by GreenShorts Louisiana.

GreenShorts began in Los Angeles at UCLA's Institute of Environment and Sustainability, and through a partnership with the LSU College of the Coast and Environment, Louisiana high school students were invited to participate. Submissions to the contest were evaluated by judges at LSU and UCLA before moving to a final round, which was judged by a team comprised of representatives from Netflix, Skydance Media and Vulcan Productions. 

Congratulations to the team whose passion, field research, analysis, interviews, writing, filming and editing combined to create a compelling narrative on the impact of this global issue in our local waterways. Thank you for making a difference!

Watch the video to see the completed product of our Sacred Heart students >

Water or Plastic Project Summary:

Single-use plastics have become a huge part of our lives. However, these plastics very often end up in our waterways, release chemicals, and break down into microplastics. You might not be able to see them, but microplastics are in our water. Although trash heaps are easier to spot in waterways, microplastics – pieces of plastic smaller than several millimeters – have started to be found even in human tissue.

The plastic pieces release caustic chemicals that make their way through the food chain, ending up on our dinner plates. Students of the Academy of the Sacred Heart wanted to help explain how this is becoming a big problem in the Bayou State and what we can do to fix this.