CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- A group of Chicago Public School students spent one of their first days of summer break at City Hall on Tuesday.
"These students have been working on a science project all year," said former Governor Pat Quinn.
Quinn is helping middle schoolers at Ray Elementary in Chicago officially file an ordinance with the City Clerk.
"We had been working on a unit studying thermal insulation and thermal insulators and this is why we stumbled upon this idea of Polystyrene expanded foam also know as Styrofoam," she said.
"This is one of the projects we kinda took on with the students. We've been trying to get people's attention all year long."
As a result, the class is filing a petition to the Committee of Environmental Protection and Energy to consider a ban on single use Styrofoam containers.
"Our first reason we want to ban containers is because sometimes they can leak into your food and cause cancer," said Mason O'Shields, 6th grader, Ray Elementary.
"The second reason is that it is not biodegradable and it will never fully break down," said Jamela Finley, 6th grader.
"Two alternatives we can use is 100 percent vegetable boxes and 100 percent recyclable boxes," said Ari Stanton Thomas, 6th grader.
"They need to do something now to save the planet. It's their future, it's their planet. They need to something now to stop it, because I'm not going to be here as long as they are. They want to make a change. They want a better future for themselves and they understand that. They can't wait for adults to do it," Drewa said.
The next meeting of the Chicago City Council is July 24.
