The following document lists the recycling services available throughout the State of Missouri; it is maintained by the Missouri Department of Natural Resources.
Waste Assessment Part 2
What's In Your Trash Bag?
Background
This is an extension activity to "What's In Your Trash Bag?" where students learn from which materials and resources their trash is made. By filling in the chart, students can see what others have thrown away and compare that with their own trash. Students will learn the many uses we have for our natural resources and why we need to be conscious of what we throw away.Goals
- To know what type of materials comprise our everyday trash
- To observe the quantity of trash produced in a day (week, month, etc.) by an individual and evaluate how to reduce this amount
- To examine how packaging is used
- To understand the concepts of reduce, reuse, and recycle
Objectives
Students will be able to:- Use addition and subtraction to calculate the quantity of trash generated each day at school
- Use multiplication and division to determine the percentage of recyclable trash at school
- Distinguish between recyclable and non-recyclable items
Materials
- Plastic trash bag
- Various non-food items commonly thrown away, such as a cereal box, plastic containers, newspaper, chip bag, school worksheets, plastic utensils, etc.
- Markers
- Chart paper
Procedure and Study Questions
- Make a chart with six vertical columns and 5-6 horizonal rows. Label the columns as follows : Item, Material, Used, Reduce, Reuse, Recycle
- Agree on definitions for the "Three Rs."
Reduce - to make smaller
Reuse - to use again
Recycle - to take something old and make it into something new - Have students select an item from the trash bag identifying it according to the criteria in each column. Write the information provided by students on the chart.
- Define the resources used to produce each item as you proceed through the activity. Ask students to determine whether the item they chose could be reduced, reused or recycled and how.
- Are the items in the trash bag products that students or parents would have purchased or are they the packages left over after products have been consumed? Discuss the difference. If the items are left over packaging, could they have been eliminated?
- After all items have been identified, separate out the ones that could be recycled in your community. By what weight or percentage could this amount of trash be reduced by recycling those items?
- What shopping decisions would students and their families need to make in order to reduce the amount of waste generated by "pre-cycling?"
- What symbols or other information would students need to look for on products or packages to reduce waste through their shopping decisions?
- What are some other ways students can reduce and reuse in order to generate less waste?