Plastics: Impacts and Action
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4-week Global Online Course
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November 3 – November 30, 2025
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For educators, school teachers, university students, education leaders, community leaders, and volunteers
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Learn from Cornell University instructors, guest speakers, and participants from around the world
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25 professional-development hours
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Cornell University certificate
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Asynchronous + optional webinars
Join this course to advance real-world sustainability action and participate in a vibrant learning community!
Why take this course?
Plastics influence every part of our lives, and so does action against plastic pollution. Participants in this course will gain several benefits:
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Action-ready plan — Draft a plastics action plan or improve an existing initiative that you can implement in your organization, school, or community.
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Ecosystem improvement — Explore how clean-ups, reuse initiatives, and organizational changes can reduce plastic waste, improve local ecosystems, and empower communities for stewardship and policy-making.
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Professional network — Join a global cohort of educators, students, and community leaders committed to reducing plastic pollution, advancing policy changes, and strengthening sustainability practices.
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Cornell certificate — Earn a digital certificate verifying 25 professional development hours you can share with employers or licensure boardsboards.
Is this course for me?
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Community leaders & volunteers — Mobilize neighbors, inspire collective action, and advance stewardship projects that reduce plastic waste and build healthier communities.
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Nonprofit staff & educators — Design impactful education programs, campaigns, and policy initiatives that resonate with diverse audiences.
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Organizations & cities — Implement organizational changes, launch clean-up and reuse programs, and shape city-level policies that address plastic pollution.
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K–12 teachers — Integrate plastics and sustainability topics into science, civics, or art classes while meeting learning standards.
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University students & early-career professionals — Build a portfolio project, grow your network, and explore careers at the intersection of plastics, sustainability, and community change.
Course journey
This course explores our social and environmental relationships with plastics and uses plastics to help understand the complex dynamic systems shaping our planet and our lives. During the course we will use critical and systems thinking while learning about everything from the plastic lifecycle, to plastic's social and environmental impacts, to NGO and government plastics policies.
You will apply your knowledge by designing and implementing a locally-relevant action targeting plastic pollution. Such projects may include working for policy changes at schools or workplaces, art projects, reuse initiatives, and so much more! This is a unique opportunity to be part of an online learning community taking action against plastic pollution.
What you will learn
Through this course, you will:
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Learn about systems thinking and apply systems thinking to describe the plastic lifecycle, plastics' global circulation as goods and waste, and the environmental and health impacts of plastics.
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Explore the feasibility and effectiveness of plastic governance approaches.
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Develop and implement a locally-relevant action to address plastic pollution.
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Reflect on the experience and outcomes of your plastic pollution intervention, and write a short report describing your action and ideas.
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Participate actively in a global online community of plastic-concerned citizens.
Course experience
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Format – asynchronous lectures, readings, discussion boards, plus two optional live webinars each week (recorded, available for watching later).
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Workload – about 5 hours per week; 25 hrs total logged on the certificate.
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Platforms – edX Edge for core content; optional WhatsApp/WeChat groups for informal networking
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Learning approaches – We create social learning experiences through discussions and sharing ideas. We also believe in the power of applying what you learn to your own organizations, classrooms and communities, so you’ll craft an action plan by the end of the course.
Webinar speakers
Our course features two live webinars each week with inspiring guest speakers who share ideas and stories from the frontlines of addressing plastic pollution.
These sessions are often the most anticipated part of the course – sparking creativity, showcasing community and organizational initiatives, and helping participants apply new insights to their own projects.
Recordings will be available on the course platform for anyone unable to join live.
Instructors
Fish Yu
Graduate student in Natural Resources and the Environment, Cornell University
Alex Kudryavtsev, PhD
Course co-designer,
Cornell University
Research Associate
Marianne Krasny, PhD
Course co-designer,
Cornell University Professor
Teaching Assistants
Wanying Wu
Chinese Course Support, PhD Candidate in Environmental Engineering, University of Wyoming
Chen Zhang
PhD Candidate, Department of Education Management, East China Normal University
Renda Sun
Assistant for participants in China, MS Candidate in Environmental Conservation Education at NYU
Course Contact
Hamidullah Nikzad
Course administrator.
Questions? feel free to ask Hamidullah Nikzad, our course administrator. Please type "Urban EE" in the subject line of your email. CivicEcology@cornell.edu
Meet your team
Cornell Civic Ecology Lab faculty, researchers, and graduate TAs will guide you, including Fish Yu, Alex Kudryavtsev, and Prof. Marianne Krasny.
Course Trailer
Expert Webinars
We will conduct a series of webinars and open discussions featuring outstanding experts and educators from both formal and non-formal education. Participation in these live meetings is optional. They will be recorded and can be watched at any time during the course.
Tuition
Our tuition tiers support course delivery and growth:
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$500 – Horizon Sponsor — Support more participants, and expand the reach of the course.
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$200 – Journey Sponsor — Support other participants, and sustain course development.
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$125 – Step Sponsor — Every step counts, your support carries this course forward.
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$100 – Standard — For participants residing in the United States, Canada, European countries, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Mainland China, Taiwan, Australia, and New Zealand.
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$25 – Reduced — For participants residing in all other countries.
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Group discount – Group lead registers first, shares their code with 10+ participants who pay. After 10+ participants used the code and paid, the group lead’s registration fee is refunded.
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Competitive scholarship – Apply by Oct 10, 2025; awards announced Oct 15. Learn more (PDF).
How to earn the certificate
Complete weekly discussions, watch/attend at least one webinar, and submit your Action Plan to receive a Cornell PDF certificate emailed within two months.
Need help?
Most logistics are covered above. But if you still have questions, please email CivicEcology@cornell.edu with “Plastics” in the subject line.
We are glad to support your learning journey and value your efforts to make communities, organizations, and cities healthier, more sustainable, and more resilient by reducing plastic pollution through education, stewardship, policy-making, and action.