How can I reduce waste?

LESSON 3

Reduce

The most effective way of managing waste is to not produce it in the first
place. Each of us can reduce our footprint by changing the way we think
and act.
There are numerous ways to reduce waste, including reducing the amount of
packaging on materials, recycling , decreasing the amount of chemicals we
put into our environment, reusing items, etc. We can also reduce our
footprint by conserving water and electricity, as well as using cleaning items
and other chemicals that are less harsh.
So how can you make a difference? Start by taking a pledge to reduce your
impact. Not only will you save money and time, youll help the Earth at the
same time!
Pledge to:
Reduce waste by purchasing reusable, refillable and recyclable
packaging and avoiding over-packaged and disposable products.
Reduce waste by recycling and composting materials.
Reduce my impact by conserving power by turning off lights and
other electronics when not in use.
Reduce my impact by conserving water.
Reduce waste by using the front and back of paper before getting a
clean sheet and only printing items that are needed.
Reduce waste by only packing or buying as much food as I will eat,
and using reusable utensils and other lunch items instead of
disposable ones.
Reduce my impact by reading labels and choosing products that
have less toxic materials/chemicals and that have been created using
less raw materials.
Make a difference by encouraging your friends and family to take
the pledge.

Did you Know?

It takes more than 1 cups of water to make one sheet of paper.

More than 40 percent of wood pulp goes toward the production of
paper.
The United States alone, which has less than 5% of the world's
population, consumes 30% of the world's paper.
Approximately 48 million tons of food are thrown
away in the United States each year.

Zero waste lunch

Can you decrease the amount of trash you and
your class create at lunch?
1. Start by looking at everyones lunch that they bring or buy at school.
2. Discuss and estimate the amount of trash that will be generated with
paper bags, plastic bags, disposable silverware and other lunch items.
3. After lunch, weigh the waste from each lunch, including food.

Challenge:
Determine how you and your class can reduce this waste, and ideally
create a zero waste lunch. That means everything you bring is either
recycled, reused or composted.
Here are some tips to get you started:
Forget the sandwich bags: statistics show that every day 20 million
plastic sandwich and snack bags end up in U.S. landfills. Buy
reusable bags or containers instead.
Shop in bulk: instead of using individually wrapped items in your
lunch, opt for quantity, and repack them yourself in small, reusable
containers or bags.
Buy a lunchbox: you dont have to be five to use a lunchbox. There
are many alternatives that are environmentally friendly instead of
using a plastic or paper bag.
Reuse utensils and napkins: instead of using disposable forks,
spoons, knives and napkins, choose reusable alternatives.
Compost and donate: instead of throwing leftover food away,
compost the waste and donate any unused portions to a food
pantry, shelter or other non-profit.
Fill your own drink: use a refillable drink bottle with juice or water
instead of bottled water or juice boxes.
Pack only what you will eat. Instead of wasting food, pack less if you
arent finishing it. You will save money and waste less.

Science project
How much space does trash occupy?
Materials:

Large cardboard box

Trash: clean plastic jugs, cartons, aluminum cans, paper, etc.
Calculator

Procedure:
1. Fill a large box with trashplastic jugs, aluminum cans, paper, etc.
2. Calculate the total amount of trash in the container
(Hint: height x width x depth)
3. If every person in your class contributed this amount of waste to a
landfill each week, how much space would be required each year?
4. Now, compact and reduce the trash by crushing, chopping, tearing,
etc. and removing recyclable items.
5. How much was the waste reduced?

Ask yourself

1. Trash placed in landfills and sanitary dumps may last far longer
than desired. Research and determine the life of a product in a
landfill, and based on that research, what packaging materials
seem to be the easiest/hardest to recycle; easiest/hardest to
compact; easiest/hardest to decompose?
2. Look at the products around you. How would you change the
products you use everyday to make them more environmentally
friendly?
3. Look at your classroom. How can you reduce the amount of
trash you produce and the impact you have on the
environment?

Using water wisely

Although water is the Earths most abundant source, only one percent is
available for human consumption. Most of the water on Earth is either
saltwater or fresh water that is frozen in the polar ice caps. Population growth,
manufacturing, and agriculture all demand increasing amounts of freshwater.
The amount of water on Earth is constant and recycled through time; this
means that some of the water you drink is more than 20 million years old!
Protecting and conserving water is important for future generations.

Fast Facts on Water

The bathroom accounts for about 65 percent of water used

in the home.
Some showerheads use 5-7 gallons per minute (gpm). That adds up
to 50-70 gallons when you are in the shower for 10 minutes!
It takes about 25-50 gallons of water to fill a bath tub and 12.5 gallons
of water for a 5 minute shower.
The U.S. uses about 346,000 million gallons of fresh water every day.

Collect Rainwater
Did you know the average roof collects about 600 gallons of water for every
inch of rainfall? Don't let all that water go to waste! You can use rainwater for
gardening and watering household plants, washing cars and bathing pets.
You can create your own rainwater collecting system, using rain barrels,
storage bins or buckets!
Get a large plastic trash bin with a lid the larger the bin, the more
water you can collect!
Attach a spigot close to the bottom of the trash bin with a drill. This will
help you access the water for filling up a bucket for gardening.
For rainwater to get in, you can either filter the rainwater from the gutter
on the side of your house, or cut a hole in the lid and place mesh over
it to keep leaves and other debris out of the bin.

A wasteless school year

What can you do to reduce your classroom waste?
Take a look around your school and your classroomyoull discover all
kinds of ways to reduce waste and a variety of ways to be part of the solution.

Instead of purchasing book covers, cover your textbooks with cut-up

grocery or shopping bags. This helps reduce waste and keeps your
books in good condition. Make it an art project by decorating them.

Use durable products. Sturdy backpacks and other tough

products can be used for years. For instance, three-ring binders can be
reused and filled with recycled paper, but pocket folders wont last.

Dont forget to look for the recycle symbol when you purchase products.

Choose environmentally friendly cleaning products, art supplies and

other classroom materials to reduce the amount of pollution to the
environment.
.
Reduce your energy consumptionturn off lights, computers, etc.
when not in use.

Reduce your schools overall footprintcreate usable greenspace,

gardens and naturalized outdoor areas.

Save fuel and reduce your carbon footprint by riding the bus, carpooling,
riding your bike or walking to and from school.

Use both sides of the paper instead of another sheet. Save old papers
for scrap paper or drawing. Set all printers, copiers, etc. to print on
both sides of the paper.

Start a Recycling Program:

1. Create containers to store your recycling, and determine what and how
you will recycle.
2. Challenge other classes to see who can recycle the most and reduce
their waste by the end of the year.
3. Expand the program school-wide, and get
the community involved.

Compost
Why Compost?
As much as 27 percent of the waste in the U.S. is made up of yard trimmings
and food according to the EPA. You can reduce your waste and save money
on store-bought soil and fertilizer by creating a compost pile for food
and yard waste.

Basic Guidelines for Starting a Compost Pile:

1. Select a dry, shady spot near a water source for your pile or
container.
2. Add brown and green materials, chopping larger pieces.
3. Moisten dry materials.
4. Once established, add grass clippings and green waste. You can
also bury fruit and vegetable waste under 10 inches of material.
5. Turn/mix the pile inward weekly.

What You CAN and CAN NOT Compost:

YES:
Yard waste: twigs and wood chips, grass clippings, leaves, wood chips,
sawdust, hay/straw
Kitchen scraps: coffee grounds and filters, eggshells, fruits and
vegetables, nut shells, tea bags
Paper: cardboard rolls, clean paper, newspaper
Household waste: cotton rags, dryer/vacuum lint, fireplace ashes,
Wool rags, pet and human hair, etc.
NO:

Yard waste: Black Walnut tree leaves or twigs, yard trimmings treated
With chemical pesticides
Coal or charcoal ash
Kitchen scraps: dairy products, eggs, fat/grease/lard/oils, meat, fish
Pet waste

Word match
Test your knowledge. Pick the word from the word
bank that fits the description.
1. Recyclable, ground-up glass
2. Changes organic materials into a soil-like mixture
3. Half of all landfill waste
4. A use for shredded newspapers
5. Resources saves 95 percent of energy to process
6. Made from petroleum and natural gas. Recycling is still in infancy
7. Some states recycle 90 to 95 percent of these
8. If we use less and make less waste, we are doing this
9. Our largest portion of household waste
10. If materials arent recycled, they
11. If materials arent recycled, they use up
12. Some communities require gas stations to collect this for recycling
13. This means to take something old and turn it into something new
14. This is what smog in the area islitter is also a form of this
15. You can earn this when you collect cans and bottles
and take them to a recycling center

Word Bank
Paper
Aluminum
Composting
Plastics
Natural resources
Cullet
Animal bedding
Newspapers
Landfills
Beverage
containers
Motor oil
Recycle
Reduce
Pollution
Money

Spread the word!

Create awareness at the trashcans around
school for recycling by making large and
colorful labels for each bin. Label the main
garbage cans as landfill so students can
understand where that trash is going. For
the recycling bin, draw pictures of water
bottles and tin cans to help younger kids
learn what goes where. Also create a paper
bin for napkins and paper sacks. This
awareness can help your school reduce
their waste and keep our landfills from
overflowing.