This document discusses reducing, reusing, and recycling waste. It defines key terms and provides background on waste issues like plastic bottle and paper waste. The document includes an activity where students calculate paper towel waste, brainstorm ways to reduce school waste, and create a poster promoting reducing, reusing, and recycling to encourage these practices throughout the school.

1. Reduce, Reuse, Recycle By Allison Neale 3/1/10

2. Science Standard 1: The Nature of Science and Technology Standard Indicator 3.1.8: Describe how discarded products contribute to the problem of waste disposal and that recycling can help solve this problem. Taken from http://dc.doe.in.gov/Standards/AcademicStandards/StandardSearch.aspx Link to Activity: http://www.indianastandardsresources.org/files/sci/sci_3_1_8.pdf

3. Definitions Discarded -thrown away Waste -garbage; trash Disposal -the act or process of getting rid of something Reduce -to bring down, as in extent, amount, or degree; diminish Reuse -to use again Recycle -to put or pass through a cycle again Taken from www.thefreedictionary.com

4. Background Information According to the Environmental Defense Organization: Americans use 2.5 million plastic bottles every hour and only a small percentage are recycled. We throw away enough writing paper each year to build a twelve-foot-high road from Los Angeles to New York. Every week more than 500,000 trees are used to produce the two-thirds of newspapers that are never recycled. Taken from http://www.indianastandardsresources.org/files/sci/sci_3_1_8.pdf

5. Introduction to Activity How many paper towels do you use to dry your hands after washing them? How long will it take you to go through a roll of paper towels if you use one paper towel each time you dry your hands? How long will it take if you use two paper towels every time you dry your hands? Where does trash go? Paper towels are made from trees, meaning that the more paper towels we use, the more trees we are using as well. List all the types of trash you create, including paper, cans, bottles, etc. How can you reduce the amount of trash you create?

6. Look for products that display this symbol. The products that you find are ones that can be recycled. Some may have already been recycled.

7. Brainstorming How can we reduce the trash in the classroom? How can we promote recycling throughout the school? Make a list or a web of your ideas. We will combine our ideas into a class list.

8. Application Using poster board and markers as well as the information you have learned and ideas you and your classmates have come up with, create a poster that promotes the importance of reducing, reusing, and recycling. Be creative. Develop your own slogans and illustrations to include in your poster. The poster that you create will be displayed in the classroom and/or in the hallways to encourage reducing, reusing, and recycling throughout the school.

9. Example Taken from http://student.plattsburgh.edu/mwell001/webquest_files/recycle_poster.jpg

10. Assessment Where does trash go? How can you tell whether or not a product can be recycled? Which of the following will help solve the trash problem? A. Reduce B. Reuse C. Recycle D. All of the above Explain your answer to the previous question.