WASTE / RECYCLING EXCUSIONS...

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2 Contents WILLY ON WASTE... 1 AIMS... 1 OVERVIEW... 2 WASTE / RECYCLING EXCUSIONS SUGGESTED VISITS ARTICLES THROW AWAY LIVING IN THE 1990 S RESOURCES RUNNING OUT OF RESOURCES? DISTRIBUTION OF BAG WEIGHTS DISTRIBUTION OF BAG SET OUT DIVERSION POTENTIAL LANDFILLS - WHAT IS A LANDFILL? A WASTE FREE SCHOOL REDUCE WASTE DISPLAY BRAINSTORM WASTES OUR SCHOOL CUT OUT WASTE! LESSONS FROM YOUR LUNCH WHY REDUCE WASTE? REDUCE - TO TEACH STUDENTS HOW TO SHOP OBJECTIVELY - WHAT IS EXCESSIVE PACKAGING? RECYCLE HOW TO RECYCLE - WHERE TO RECYCLE COMPOST - ORGANIC WASTE TO SOIL CONDITIONER LITTER - LITTER IS WASTE IN THE WRONG PLACE HAZARDOUS WASTE - WHAT IS HAZARDOUS WASTE? WHAT IS OZONE DEPLETION? n

3 Willy on Waste The lessons and activities in this Resource Kit are designed to create a basic awareness and knowledge of waste management issues in New Zealand and to equip students with the necessary skills to protect and improve our local environment. Students will implement these skills and feel as if they are playing a role in saving the earth. (It is too easy for them to feel helpless in the face of environmental crisis and do.. nothing.) Willy on Waste, a teacher s Resource Kit on environmental waste has been designed and developed for teachers of Intermediate and Primary school pupils in the Gisborne District by the Gisborne District Council. Aims That the students learn how to: 1. Create an awareness and understanding of the waste we create. 2. Change their attitudes and behaviour to achieve waste reduction. 3. Manage their rubbish in our local environment. This resource develops all of the Key Competencies, especially participating and contributing. It covers all of the learning areas, especially health and physical education, science, social sciences, and technology. This is how it may fit into your Science programme: 1. Material World strand: Landfills, reuse, recycle, compost, packaging, litter, hazardous waste. 2. Living World strand: Resources. 3. Planet Earth and Beyond strand: Resources, reduce, litter, hazardous waste. 4. Nature of Science strand: Waste. n Page 1

4 Topics included are: Environmental Resources Waste Landfills Waste Reduction Reuse Recycling Composting Litter Hazardous Waste and the Effects of Ozone. Overview The emphasis throughout this kit is to increase students awareness and understanding of waste reduction and recycling by participating in hands on individual and classroom activities. As well as the resource material being made available, Gisborne District Council is willing to be involved in the presentation of the material. The level of this involvement is to be negotiated with each individual school. There is no copyright on the material in this kit, so it can be photocopied. If has been designed with photocopying in mind. It is envisaged that as a student progresses through a school, they will cover all of the material necessary to understand the topic Environmental Waste as presented in Willy on Waste. For further information contact: ANNE LISTER or GISBORNE DISTRICT COUNCIL PO Box 747 Gisborne Telephone: (06) anne@gdc.govt.nz References and acknowledgements: A Word on Waste Regional Waste Section, A.R.C. Environment, Auckland Regional Council Recycling - Education Resource Kit Community Business and Environment Centre, Kaitaia Keep New Zealand Beautiful Willy on Waste has been printed on recycled paper. n Page 2

5 Session 1: RESOURCES - Everything Comes From the Earth. Students will begin to understand the concept of natural resources. Examples, discussion, mobile construction, worksheet. Session 2: RESOURCES - Running out? Students learn how natural resources are used and will understand the difference renewable and nonrenewable resources. Clay activity, discussion, bead game, worksheet. Session 5: WASTE - Waste in our Community Students will understand what rubbish is made of and that it can vary in composition over time or by location of collection. Discussion based on Gisborne Waste Survey, comparative study. Session 6: LANDFILLS - What is a Landfill? Students will understand what a landfill is and how a landfill works. Photos, discussion, story or poem, acrostic. Session 3: WASTE - Waste Generation has Increased. Session 7: LANDFILLS - Their problems. Students will understand Students will begin to some of the problems understand that our society associated with landfills and has experienced cultural conclude that by producing changes which affect the less waste and recycling, we use of natural resources and conserve landfill space. the production of waste. Discussion, quantitative View photos, discussion, calculation, burying visit from elderly person, experiment, comparative study, brainstorming exercise. Session 4: sorting exercise. WASTE - Waste at School. Session 8: REDUCE - Waste Reduction in the Classroom. Students will learn what waste is and what happens to it. They will understand how waste is handled, collected and disposed of at school and their home. Students will understand that waste is not just landfill space and pollution but use of raw materials. Reduction, the first step in minimising waste can start in the classroom. Discussion, questions compiled, caretaker visit, waste survey, weighing graphing. Discussion, sorting exercise, environmentally friendly picnic. n Page 3

6 Session 9: REDUCE - Shop Objectively / Packaging Students will realise how much packaging they receive when they purchase a product and will be able to make decisions about excessive and necessary packaging. Supermarket visit, reporting, worksheet, discussion, brainstorming. Session 10: REUSE - Waste can be Reused. To show students that some things that are thrown out have value. To introduce them to the concept of reuse as an alternative to disposal. Brainstorming exercise, construction, arts and craft. Session 11: RECYCLE - What is Recycling? Students will understand that recycling conserves resources, protects the environment, reduces solid waste for disposal and conserves energy. Sorting exercise, flow chart, presentation. Session 12: RECYCLE - How and where to Recycle. Students will understand what is recyclable and initiate home recycling. Outside visitor, discussion, construction of pamphlet, stickers, floor plan, report. Session 13: COMPOST - Organic Waste to Soil Conditioner. Students will understand that organic waste can, by composting, be made into a natural fertiliser and soil conditioner. They will learn how organic material decomposes. Comparative study, discussion, seed sowing, construct mini compost bin, leaf litter study, construction and maintenance of compost scheme. Session 14: LITTER - Waste in the Wrong Place. Students will understand what litter is and how it can be avoided. Photos, discussion, worksheet, survey, brainstorming, collage, display, collage, wordsearch. Session 15: HAZARDOUS WASTE and OZONE DEPLETIO - What is the Problem? Students will learn what hazardous products are and will be able to recognise common household examples. Home survey, discussion, categorising, design. n Page 5

7 Waste / recycling excusions Local visits should be made in conjunction with this programme. Perhaps the class could be divided into three groups, each visiting, making notes, taking photos and reporting back to the class. Suggested visits 1. Landfill Visit Gisborne s waste is transported out of the district for landfilling. Waste on the East Coast goes to the Waiapu Landfill. For health and safety reasons, visits to the Waiapu Landfill, Ruatoria are fairly restricted. Groups of students could visit the site in a minibus, or parents cars and view it from the vehicle, taking photos if necessary. They should consider: Does it smell? Is rubbish being blown around? Is it well covered? What wildlife can they see? Is there much vehicular activity? What machines are present? What other collections / activities are going on at the landfill site? 2. Local Supermarket Visit Assign each student a type of product (e.g. meat, bread, milk, lollies, cheese, bananas, soda pop etc) and ask that they notice how it s packaged. How is it packaged? Is there a choice of packaging for the product e.g. fizzy drink in glass bottle, aluminium can or plastic bottle? What is the packaging used for (protection, identifying product etc)? Has it been recycled Can it be recycled or reused? Could the product be wrapped with less packaging? 3. Transfer Station Visit Arrange for the students to visit the local transfer Station Facts to find out: How far is the centre from school? What hours is the centre open? Do many people use the centre? What sort of materials does the centre accept? n Page 10

8 What happens to things that come to the centre? What materials are recycled the most? What are their markets? How is recycling promoted? Articles Search for information about environmental waste issues. The Council webpage, has links to the sites below: Gisborne is a 'Zero Waste' District - visit Allbrites, our contractor for recyclables operate the Resource Recovery Centre. Visit their website with material suitable for the classroom - see Environment Canterbury has produced an interactive waste cartoon for school children - WasteNotWantNot. Visit the Ministry for the Environment's website - For materials available in Gisborne for reuse - visit There are many websites relating to worms. Visit Global warming : Look at New Zealand's Climate Change Programme on - Council has copies of the interactive CD, Ollie Saves the Planet, designed for children learning about waste issues. n Page 11

9 Do people in your community support recycling? What do they do about it? Here are some questions to ask your family, friends, neighbours and local business people. Households 1. Does your area have recycling? Yes No Don t know 2. If yes, does anyone in your household recycle? Yes No 3. If no, would recycle if it was made easier? Yes No Don t know 4. Do you or does anyone in your household take recyclables to a collection centre? Yes No 5. What recyclables do you return: (tick box) Paper Glass Oil Plastics Cardboard Aluminium Cloth Other Other metals 6. If there is no collection centre in your area, would you use one if it was available? Yes No Don t know 7. Do you buy products that come in recyclable packaging? Yes No Don t know 8. Do you think it is worth paying a little more for such products? Yes No Don t know 9. Do you buy re-refined motor oil? Yes No 10. Do you have a home composting system? Yes No 11. If you buy a product in a spray can, do you check to see if it contains CFC s? Yes No 12. Do you think there are enough incentives for people to recycle their rubbish? Yes No 13. If no, what other incentives do you think are needed? n Page 12

10 Businesses 1. Does your business recycle any products or packaging? Yes No 2. If yes, what does it recycle? 3. Does your business sell any products made from recycled materials or using recycled packaging? 4. If yes, what products are these? Yes No 5. Is there a collection service that picks up recyclables from your business? Yes No 6. If no, would you use this kind of service if it was available? Yes No 7. Do you advertise any of your products as being made from recycled materials? Yes No 8. When people buy something from you, do you always wrap it unless they ask you not to? 9. What kind of wrapping do you use? Yes No 10. Does your business sell any products in bulk? Yes No 11. If yes, what products are these? 12. Does recycling save your business any money? Yes No Don t know 13. If yes, how does it do this? 14. Does your business sell any products in spray cans that use CFC s? Yes No 15. Would you be willing to use your business as a depot for collecting recyclables? Yes No THANK YOU FOR TAKING THE TIME TO ANSWER THESE QUESTIONS n Page 13

11 Throw away living in the 1990 s Resources Everything Comes From The Earth Objective: Students will being to understand the concept of natural resources. Background information: Natural RESOURCES are naturally occurring materials that form our earth. These materials include air, water, soils, rocks, timber and plants. The earth is the foundation of all life, so taking care of the earth and its resources should be a responsibility shared by all. All resources are interconnected, so a deficiency in one area puts pressure on all others. Our basic needs of air, water, food and shelter are supplied by these resources. The environment is fragile. If just one of these four basic needs is removed from a habitat, humans, animals and plants suffer. As earth s population increases, demand on these resources increases and thus their quantity is diminishing. Some resources are renewable like the sun, but many such as petroleum upon which we rely heavily for energy, are non-renewable or finite. Once these finite resources are consumed, there will be no more supplies. Most of this resource use stems from people and industries in developed countries like New Zealand, Australia, the United States and Europe. handling waste put less pressure on resource use. With resource uses comes waste. Excess food, packaging, products and unwanted materials end up as waste in our landfills. In order to sustain our quality of life, we must conserve our resources through waste reduction, reuse and recycling. These methods of Class Plan 1. Show the children an egg and a fork. Help the students trace these materials back to their source. Help them recognise that an egg comes from a chicken, the chicken eats grain and grain is grown in the soil which is nourished by sunlight and water. When looking at the fork they may not recognise that it comes from the earth. A lot of time and energy is spent in finding our natural resources and changing them to make them useful to us (manufacturing). n Page 15

12 In producing steel to make the fork, a large amount of iron sand containing a small amount of iron must be mined first. Energy consuming machinery separates the iron from the sand, then the iron ore is purified with oxygen to make steel. The finished steel must be transported from the point of manufacture to the point of use. 2. Ask the students if they can think of anything that they use that is not provided by the earth. (The students will probably name some things, but on close examination, it will be seen that these things also come from the earth. Explain to students that raw materials that we take from the earth to make into other things are known as natural resources. Remind them that energy which is also a natural resource, is needed to change objects from the natural forms into the products we use. 3. Make a Resource Mobile: Example 1 Example 2 Sun Oil Grass Vegetabl es Trees Cotton Petrol Plastic Animals People Wood Clothes Cars Plastic Plastic Materials: Egg and Fork Cotton, wire/sticks Cardboard Magazines/felts/crayons 4. Distribute Everything comes from the Earth worksheets. Materials: Egg and Fork. Worksheets Everything comes from the Earth. n Page 16

13 WORKSHEET - everything comes from the earth Soft Drink Can Aluminium is made from a clay called bauxite, which is a non-renewable resource. Bauxite ore is mined in Australia and Brazil and shipped at great expense to its primary consumers, the United States and the Soviet Union. In the United States, aluminium is extracted from the bauxite. Thousands of kilowatt hours of electricity are expended in this extraction, and the process creates a significant amount of waste materials. For each ton of aluminium, four or five tonnes of water and rock are left over. One factory produces sheet aluminium, which is then shipped to another factory where soft drink cans are cut from the sheets. Cotton Jeans Balls of cotton grow on plants throughout the southern United States, and in several other parts of the world. The cotton must be picked, cleaned, carded, made into yarn or thread, woven into our cloth, dyed the appropriate colour, cut and sewn into jeans, distributed to stores and sold. Cotton itself is a renewable resource, but a great deal of energy is expended to convert it into a pair of jeans. Wooden Chair The chair is manufactured from trees that grow in the earth. Trees are a renewable resource. or cullet will help the silica melt faster; lime (calcium carbonate) is sometimes added. The silica melts in a furnace at temperatures above 1426ºC. Silica is a non-renewable resource. Plastic Bag Most modern plastics have petroleum, a non-renewable resource, as their primary raw material, but plastics are made from innumerable other materials as well. The earliest plastics were made from cellulose, a plant fibre, which is still the basis for film, audio and videotape. Plastic bags and playing records are derived from a mixture of petroleum and chlorine. Newspaper Paper is made from wood and trees are a renewable resource. The basic ingredient of paper is wood pulp, soft wood broken down either by chemical process or by grinding until the cellulose fibres separate. Chemically produced pulp is made into good quality writing paper; ground wood pulp is used for newsprint. The pulp is washed and screened, then mixed with water in a beater. During the beating process, coloured dyes or chemical sizing may be added. The mixture is then screened and shaken to remove the water, pressed and dried over a series of hot cylinders and wound into a roll of paper. Glass Bottle Glass is made by melting silica, a fine white sand in combination with soda (sodium bicarbonate), or small pieces of old broken glass called cullet. Either soda n Page 17

14 Leather Shoes Real leather is made from the skin of animals that eat grasses that grow in the soil. Animals represent a renewable resource. Many modern items that appear to be made of leather are actually vinyl which is a kind of plastic. Hamburger The meat is beef which comes from beef cattle. The bun is made from grains that grow in the ground. Cattle feed on grass from the earth. The cattle, grains and grass are renewable resources. Steel Scissors Steel is the most commonly used metal in the world. It is made from three principal raw materials - iron ore, limestone and coal. The special low sulphur coals are converted into coke in ovens, and the gas released is used in processes within the works. The coke is then used in the production of iron. Iron is made in a blast furnace. Impurities in the ore melt into the limestone to make slag (a raw material for cement). The coke reacts chemically, reducing the ore to iron. The molten iron from the blast furnace is then further refined to make steel. This is done in the basic oxygen furnace. As much as 25% of all the material which is charged into the steel making furnace is scrap metal. Flax Basket These are made from the fibres of flax plants, a renewable resource. Wool Jumpers Made from fibres of sheep or goat hair. These animals feed on grass grown in the earth. Tyre Most tyres are made from rubber which is extracted from the rubber plant. Clay Pot Made from clay, an earthy material. Butter Butter is made from cow s milk and salt. Cattle eat grass from the earth. Bread A loaf of bread is made mostly of wheat grains. The grains grow in the ground. Other ingredients that come straight from the earth are water and salt. Crayon Crayons are made from wax which comes from bees or from chalk which is made from limestone. n Page 18

15 WORKSHEET - everything comes from the earth but where Try to trace each of the following items back to their original source, the earth. (The sun s energy, of course, is important to all of these.) For example, the egg you had for breakfast came from a chicken which ate grain which grew from the earth, SO: ALUMINIUM CAN PLASTIC BAG BUTTER LEATHER SHOES GLASS BOTTLE WOODEN CHAIR COTTON JEANS STEEL SCISSORS NEWSPAPER BREAD FLAX BASKET WOOL JUMPER TYRE CLAY POT CRAYON HAMBURGER Can you name one thing that does not come from the earth? ANSWER PAGE - everything comes from the earth but where ALUMINIUM CAN can sheet aluminium bauxite earth PLASTIC BAG plastic petroleum earth BUTTER cream milk cow grass earth LEATHER SHOES shoes leather cow/pig grass earth GLASS BOTTLE glass silica/sand earth WOODEN CHAIR chair timber tree earth COTTON JEANS jeans thread cotton plant earth STEEL SCISSORS scissors steel iron ore earth NEWSPAPER paper wood tree earth BREAD grain earth; water earth; salt earth FLAX BASKET flax fibres flax plant earth WOOL JUMPER wool yarn sheep/goat hair grass earth TYRE rubber rubber plant earth CLAY POT clay earth CRAYON wax/chalk earth HAMBURGER buns grains earth; meat cow grass earth n Page 19

16 Running out of resources? Objective: Students learn how natural resources are used and will understand the difference between renewable and nonrenewable resources. Background information: People are putting increasing demands on the earth s resources in many ways - the need for more food puts pressure on the land and fishing resources, power, fuel and building resources are overused, our technology demands all sorts of new raw materials, even space for living can be in short supply. A natural resource is a valuable naturally occurring material. Renewable resources are those that can be replaced naturally, derived from an endless source, such as plants, wildlife, and sun. Non-renewable resources are those that occur in a finite amount such as fossil fuels, minerals and metals. Once used, these resources cannot be replaced. Demand on our natural resources has grown significantly, due to the world s population increases. Class Plan 1. Pass out clay from a container labelled Earth s Resources explaining that this is an example of one of the earth s resources. Make models of things using the clay. 2. Discuss how we dispose of rubbish at home and at school. Write the words Bury, Burn and Throw Away on the cardboard boxes. Students place their clay product into one of the three boxes. Discuss what would theoretically happen to each piece of clay if it is buried, burned or thrown away. 3. After we bury, burn or throw away these objects, what will happen to these things? 4. Repeat the activity several times, putting more clay items (earth s resources) into the boxes to show that as we buy and use products, we use up the supply of the earth s materials. 5. When there is no more clay, the resource container is now empty and so all the resources have been used up. 6. Discuss the concepts of finite (non renewable) Vs infinite (renewable) resources, thinking of examples of each. Some infinite resources are solar energy, timber, wind and hydroelectricity. Some finite resources are petroleum, tin, aluminium, coal and natural gas. 7. Hand out Worksheet Running out of Resources. Are the items on the worksheet renewable or non-renewable resources? What other items do we use, where do they come from, how can we conserve them? n Page 20

17 Ask what will happen if we keep taking materials from the earth? What will happen when we run out? 8. Point out that clay is a valuable material that can be used and reused. If we could do this with all our waste, very little would go to the landfill and we would not take as much from the earth. 9. A Resource Game Gather a collection of various beads. The beads represent current supplies of nonrenewable natural resources. Divide the class into small groups. Equally distribute beads to the group. Children divide the resources into generations, that is some for them, some for their children and some for their grandchildren. How many resources went into each category? Who has the most or least? How does this activity relate to the way people consume and conserve resources today for future generations to use. 10. Students can survey different items in the classroom and identify what natural resources were used to make them. Are they renewable or non-renewable? Are more items made from renewable or non-renewable resources? Notice how heavy the boxes are, someone will have to take them to the landfill or school incinerator, where they will take up room and may contribute to pollution. Fortunately, the clay is still valuable material that can be used. 11. Can we ever get back the things we throw away? Which ones? What is going to happen if we keep taking materials from the earth? What will happen when we run out? 12. Instead of burying, burning or throwing the clay away, the children could reuse it. Even burning (incineration) of waste can generate heat, which can be used in creating energy, thereby saving precious fuels, such as oil and coal. 13. If we reuse the clay, we can make other items from it. Materials: Enough clay for each member of the class to have a small amount. Three small boxes labelled Bury, Burn, Throw Away. Large quantity of beads. n Page 21

18 WORKSHEET - Running out of resources? Some resources come from plants and animals which grow and reproduce. These resources can slowly be replaced if we use them wisely and plan ahead for the future. If we cut down a tree to make timber, paper, or cardboard, we can plant a new tree. Since more trees can be grown, trees are called a renewable resource. Plants, animals and other things which can be replaced are all renewable. But there are some resources which cannot be replaced. The earth has only a limited amount of them and once they are gone there will be no more. These resources are nonrenewable. We can t grow or make new copper or other precious metals. And when the last oil well runs dry, there will be no more oil for heat, for cars or for use in the many plastic products which are now part of our lives. In addition to minerals and fossil fuels, water and air are also non-renewable. Directions Identify the resource which is used to make each of the items listed below. For example, cardboard boxes are made from trees. In addition, think about whether that resource can grow or be replaced so that we will have more. Mark an R next to those items that come from a renewable resource such as cardboard boxes. Place an NR next to those items which are made from sources that cannot be replaced. They are non-renewable. Cardboard box Steel bucket Copper pipe Book Leather jacket Wooden desk Cotton shirt Polyester shirt Flour Balloon Aluminium pan Drinking glass Steak Corn cob Wool jumper Tyre Diamond Plastic rubbish bin Pencil Paper towel n Page 22

19 Additional material What are the things we need to live? What are the things we would like to want? Colour in this page. Circle the things we really NEED! n Page 23

20 Additional material - colour this page Resources Make a list of all the things you really need in your life. Do these needs use up natural resources? Make a list of things you want. Are they necessary? Make a list of non-renewable resources. Make a list of renewable resources. How can we conserve resources? (Conserve means to look after or save.) What are some of the things you can use over and over again? n Page 24

21 Waste generation has increased since our great grandparent s day Objectives: Students will begin to understand that our society has experienced cultural changes which affect the use of natural resources and the production of waste. Background information: Not only has increased population put pressure on the earth s resources, our standard of living and our sophisticated technologies have also taken their toll on resources, particularly non-renewable resources. As well, we are producing vast amounts of waste which are seriously harming our planet. Class Plan 1. View old photos of Great Grandmother. Students discuss what great grandmother is doing and how this differs from the same activity today, (clothes, toys, shopping, eating, garden). 2. Students fill out Worksheet: Once Upon a Time. 3. Just as great great grandmother s housing and transportation differed from ours, so too did her rubbish. Students choose an item from the rubbish bag and decide whether it belongs in Ours bin or the Great Great Grandmother s bin. Students explain why they put the item into the container they chose, e.g. technology changes plastics. Compare the benefits and problems of waste then and now. Discuss how world population has changed and how it is expected to change in the students lifetime Materials: Photos Worksheet. Bag of clean rubbish (include bones, vegetable waste, crockery, glass, tins, packaging, clothes, toys, electrical appliances, ball-point pens, paper plates). Two empty containers labelled Ours and Great Grandmothers. n Page 25

22 WORKSHEET - once upon a time 1900 Today Clothing Transport Food Toys Homes n Page 26

23 Where does school waste come from and where does it go? Who takes care of waste at school? Objectives: Students will learn what waste is and what happens to it. Students will understand how waste is handled, collected and disposed of at school and their home. Background information: Waste is any humanmade or natural material that is discarded. Waste is created from the use of materials in activities such as eating, cleaning, recreation etc. Class Plan (Levels 1 and 2) 1. Questions To lead into this activity, initiate a discussion based on the following questions: Who knows that waste or rubbish is? What are some other names we have for waste? (Trash, garbage, rubbish, litter etc.) Where do we put our classroom waste? (Bin, sink, fire.) What happens to our waste when it leaves the classroom? What kinds of waste do we throw away? (At home and at school.) Make a list. 2. Invite the School Caretaker to the class to talk about what waste is, how it is collected and handled, and where it is taken from the school. Prepare questions in advance such as: What is our school s waste made of? Where is rubbish collected at school? How often is it collected? How much does the school throw away each week year? How much is incinerated? Where is rubbish taken? What happens to it? 3. Children conduct a survey. Collect all rubbish discarded by the class for several days. Lay a sheet on the floor, dump the rubbish on it and have students sort it (using plastic gloves) according to category, i.e. paper, plastic, metal, and weigh/count it. Brainstorm the physical properties they used to decide which category to place each piece of rubbish into e.g. shape, texture, pliable, brittle, elastic, colour, size, smell etc. 4. Working in groups, weigh a category of rubbish, graph or tally the results. Materials: Five days worth of classroom rubbish. School Caretaker willing to visit. Sheet. Rubber gloves for each student. Small scales for weighing rubbish. n Page 27

24 Waste in our Community Objectives: Students will understand what rubbish is made of and that it can vary in composition over time or by location of collection. Background information: Waste is any solid, liquid or gaseous matter which is discharged, unwanted or discarded by the current generator or owner and includes materials that could be reused, recycled or recovered. Household waste is waste created in a home, flat, or residence. Class plan Ask each student to bring two pieces of clean rubbish that was discarded by their family at home during the week. Compare this rubbish to what was discarded during the class. Discuss how waste differs depending on point of collection (school, home, commercial, industrial) and the time of the year (this affects the organic matter that makes up half the household rubbish e.g. corncobs, grass clippings, orange skins and also paper e.g. Christmas wrappings). If you have a Playcentre or Kindergarten adjoining your school, ask if you can compare their rubbish to your own. Discuss where the rubbish goes. How else does waste reach the landfill (trailers, commercial and industrial waste). Discuss extracts from Domestic Waste Survey of Gisborne City. Compare the composition of a Gisborne Household Bag to the composition of your own class rubbish bag. Discuss effects time of the year may have on the composition of the rubbish bag (e.g. the Gisborne survey was done in February - a lot of the organic waste was corn cobs and husks, plum stones etc. At other times of the year there may be more grass clippings etc.) Worksheet Household Waste. Transfer the percentages of each type of waste in a typical Gisborne rubbish bag to the worksheet. Divide the bag into the appropriate sized area of each type of waste. Discuss where the rubbish goes. How else does waste reach the landfill (trailers, commercial and industrial waste). Materials: Worksheet Household Waste. Report Domestic Waste Survey of Gisborne City n Page 28

25 Extracts from Domestic Waste Survey of Gisborne City In November 2010, a domestic survey was carried out in Gisborne. The results obtained from the survey are shown below: Figure 1 Rubble, concrete, etc. 1% Nappies and sanitary 14% Textiles 5% Timber 0.3% Rubber 0.2% Potentially hazardous 1% Paper 11% Glass 2% Plastic 14% Non-ferrous metal 1% Ferrous metal 2% Organic 48% Composition of Household Bag (by weight) Gisborne City Organic Organic matter comprised 47.5% of the weight of all domestic kerbside bagged refuse. The composition of the Organic constituent of the refuse is shown in Figure on the next page. Kitchen waste compromised 86% of the Organic material. Kitchen waste included food preparation waste, left over food waste, and substantial quantities of perished goods. Greenwaste, or garden matter, comprised 9% of the Organic material. Most of the garden waste was prunings, leaves, weeds, and lawn clippings. The Other material (5%) included vacuum cleaner dust, animal faeces, candles, fireplace ash, and human hair. Much of this material would be suitable for composting. n Page 29

26 Greenwaste 9% Other 5% Kitchen waste 86% Organic component of Council domestic kerbside refuse bags Plastics Plastic materials comprised 14.1% of Council s domestic kerbside refuse bags. The secondary components of the plastic waste are shown in Figure below. # 1-3 packaging 17% Multi/other 13% Nonrecyclable packaging 14% Plastic bags/film 56% Plastic component of Council domestic kerbside refuse bags Plastic bags and film comprised 56% of the plastic waste and Non-recyclable packaging 14%. These materials are not accepted by the Council s kerbside recycling collection. A further 17% was #1-3 packaging, which can be recycled. Non-recyclable Multimaterial/other comprised 13% of all plastic. n Page 30

27 Paper Paper comprised 11.3% of the Council domestic kerbside refuse bag collection. The composition of the paper constituent of the refuse is shown in Figure below. Nonrecyclable paper 23% Recyclable paper 77% Paper component of Council domestic kerbside refuse bags Recyclable paper comprised 77% of all paper in the bagged refuse. All of this material could have been recycled through the Council s kerbside recycling collection. This component included paper and cardboard packaging, office paper, newspapers, magazines, and books. Non-recyclable paper comprised 23% of the paper. This category is not accepted for recycling by the Council recycling collection, and included multimaterial packaging, food-contaminated packaging, and packaging intended for liquids, such as coffee cups and aseptic packaging (such as juice boxes). Gabletop packaging, such as milk cartons, was classed as being recyclable. A significant proportion of households use newspaper or similar papers for bundling food waste prior to disposal. As well, a proportion of the non-recyclable paper was takeaway food wrapping. Heavily food-contaminated paper was classified as Nonrecyclable paper, but the less contaminated paper was considered to be recyclable. It could be possible to include food contaminated paper in a kerbside organics collection for composting. n Page 31

28 Distribution of bag weights The average bag weight was 5.43 kg. The lightest bag was 0.68 kg, and the heaviest kg. The distribution of the bag weights is shown in Figure below. 30% 25% % of bags 20% 15% 10% 5% 0% 0-2 kg 2-4 kg 4-6 kg 6-8 kg 8-10 kg kg kg kg Bag weight Distribution of Council domestic kerbside refuse bag weights Over 75% of all bags weighed between 2 and 8 kg. About 5% of bags weighed over 10 kg. Distribution of bag set out As the sample of domestic refuse bags was collected, the total number of bags set out by each household was recorded. The average household bag set out was 1.32 bags. Figure below shows the distribution of the bag set outs. 80% 70% % of households 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0% Number of bags set out Distribution of Council domestic kerbside refuse bag set out Over three-quarters of all households that set out Council refuse bags set out a single refuse bag. About 5% of households set out more than two bags. n Page 32

29 Diversion potential Common means of diverting domestic refuse materials from landfill disposal include providing systems for the collection of recyclable and compostable materials. Gisborne District Council provides a kerbside container and paper recycling service to households in the district. Kitchen waste and garden waste can be composted by residents and is collected from residential properties by some local authorities in New Zealand. Table below shows the proportion of the Gisborne domestic kerbside bagged refuse that could have been diverted using these diversion methods. Diversion potential of Council domestic kerbside bagged refuse % of total Wt per bag Wt per household set out T/week RECYCLABLE MATERIALS Paper - Recyclable packaging 8.7% 0.47 kg 0.62 kg 5.7 T/week Plastics - # 1-3 packaging 2.4% 0.13 kg 0.17 kg 1.6 T/week Ferrous metals - Steel cans 1.1% 0.06 kg 0.08 kg 0.7 T/week Non ferrous metals - Aluminium cans 0.3% 0.02 kg 0.02 kg 0.2 T/week Glass - Bottles/jars 1.5% 0.08 kg 0.11 kg 1.0 T/week Subtotal 14.0% 0.76 kg 1.00 kg 9.2 T/week COMPOSTABLE MATERIALS Organic - Kitchen waste 40.8% 2.22 kg 2.92 kg 26.8 T/week Organic - Greenwaste 4.3% 0.23 kg 0.31 kg 2.8 T/week Subtotal 45.1% 2.45 kg 3.23 kg 29.7 T/week TOTAL DIVERTIBLE 59.1% 3.21 kg 4.23 kg 38.8 T/week Nearly 14% of the materials in the Council s domestic kerbside bagged refuse could have been recycled through the existing kerbside recycling collection. A further 45% of the combined kerbside refuse could have been composted. In total, about 60% of kerbside refuse could be diverted from landfill disposal by either recycling or composting. Other materials, such as clothing and untreated timber, are also recyclable or recoverable, but have not been included in these calculations. n Page 33

30 Additional material - Household Waste Landfills - What is a Landfill? New Zealand s Rubbish Heap.. Objectives: Students will understand what a landfill is. Background information: New Zealanders produce an estimated 2.0kg of waste per day. Landfilling is the primary method of handling this waste. As little as 40 years ago, landfills were dug wherever cheap unwanted land was available, in old quarries, abandoned mines, gravel pits and marshlands. Modern waste disposal facilities are known as sanitary landfills. A sanitary landfill is a designated piece of land where rubbish is tipped, compacted, and covered daily. Clay, soil or sawdust is often used to cover rubbish. This cover reduces smell, vermin and litter and controls incoming water. As rain water falls onto the tip face, it breaks up waste products. The resulting residue material, known as leachate, trickles down to the bottom of the landfill where it is collected and pumped out for treatment. As waste slowly decomposes under layers of dirt and clay, it emits methane gases. These gases are carefully monitored and extracted from the landfill. In large landfill sites, the methane gas collected is converted to electricity. The household waste collected at the gate in Gisborne goes to the Tirohia Landfill, south of Auckland. Gisborne sends around 12,000 tonnes to landfill annually, 3300 tonnes from the domestic bag collection. Around a 1000 tonnes from the East Coast transfer stations goes to the Waiapu landfill at Ruatoria. There are transfer stations in Gisborne, Matawai, Whatatutu, Te Karaka, Tolaga Bay, Tokomaru Bay, Te Puia, Ruatoria, Tikitiki, and Te Araroa. Transfer Stations are not a disposal method in themselves, but rather a facility to assist in the disposal of refuse. Refuse is brought to the station and transferred to bulk haulage vehicles which take it to the landfill. Transfer Stations reduce operation costs of both commercial and domestic refuse collection organisations by providing a central disposal facility. It also reduces the pressure on access roadways. Landfills in New Zealand are filling up quickly. The process of siting a new landfill is long and difficult. Public opinion of landfills affects this process. Few people want to have a landfill in their community. This feeling is commonly referred to as the NIMBY or Not in my Backyard syndrome. n Page 34

31 Incineration is another waste disposal method. A number of incinerators are located in Europe, Asia and the USA. Currently, a handful of incinerators are used in New Zealand for quarantine and hospital wastes. In an incinerator, rubbish is burned in a furnace and reduced to ash. Incinerators reduce waste volumes, but the residual ash still needs to be disposed of. Burning waste can also cause air pollution. Modern pollution control devices can help to minimise this. Class Plan (Levels 1 and 2) 1. Show photo of Tirohia Landfill site. (where Gisborne s rubbish goes) 2. Class discussion: Who has been to the tip / dump / landfill. What does a trip to the tip / dump / landfill suggest to you? How does it affect your senses? (Sight, sound, smell, touch.) What sort of wildlife might you expect to find living there (seagulls, rats, mice, flies). Would you like to have one next to you? 3. Write a story or poem A Day in the Life of a Landfill Creature. 4. Write an acrostic using the word Landfill (vertically). 5. Review the background information on landfills - explain how it works. 6. Discuss how the class could make their own mini-landfill. Suggested Mini-Landfill 1. Use a 10 litre plastic paint bucket and 2 lids. 2. Cut a hole in the centre bottom of the bucket (10mm). 3. Cut a hole in the centre of one lid (10mm) and a straight cut from the centre of the edge (this lid will sit in the bottom of the bucket and help the leachate drain.) 4. Overlap cut edges and push this lid into the bottom of the bucket. 5. Place a plastic bag out through the hole in the bottom of the bucket. This will act as a reservoir for the collection of leachate. Place the bucket on three bricks so there is space for the leachate to collect. 6. Put some soil (not potting mix as this is sterilised) in the base of your landfill. Fill the bucket daily with layers of scraps from your lunches, leaves from the school yard, paper and other rubbish such as glass, aluminium, metal, plastic and maybe some oil. This is a mini landfill so use only SMALL PIECES. Record what you add. After every 20mm of waste, cover with 5mm of soil and pack it down. Sprinkle each layer with a small amount of water. n Page 35

32 7. When it is about three quarters full, cover with the second lid and let site for 1 2 months. 8. Water every now and again to simulate rain, look for sinking (subsidence). 9. At the end of the study, collect the leachate that ended up in the corner of the plastic bag. What do you think of it? What would happen to this in a large landfill? Empty the content of the mini landfill to see which items decomposed and which didn t. Materials: Photos of Tirohia Landfill site. Bag of bad smells for class discussion. 10 litre plastic bucket and three lids. Large plastic bag. Sharp knife. Three bricks. Rubbish. Soil. What are landfill s problems? What Happens when they Fill Up? What can we do? Objectives: Students will understand some of the problems associated with landfills. They will conclude that by producing less waste and recycling, we conserve landfill space. Background information: The average New Zealander produces 2kg of waste per day. LANDFILLING is the primary method of disposal for solid waste in New Zealand. While this country does not have a high population, landfill sites are increasingly difficult to secure. Public opposition to landfills and constraints on suitable land are among the factors that contribute to this difficulty. The Resource Management Act (1991) set up strict regulations on the evaluation of landfill monitoring and aftercare, making landfilling an expensive and non-sustainable option for managing our waste. Landfills have existed since the early 1930 s. Early landfills were only open pit dumps covered with dirt regularly to hide rubbish and cut down on pests and smells. Modern landfills are lined on the bottom with dense clay, limestone, or soil. Landfills have been sited in old quarries, mines, canyons and even former wetlands. Each day rubbish is taken to landfills and dumped. Once in the landfill, rubbish is compacted into cells and covered with a layer of clay. Topsoil is then added as a final covering so plants can grow and prevent erosion. As some waste slowly decomposes, it creates methane and sulphurous gases. These gases can pose a serious fire or explosive danger. They also contribute to global warming. New Zealand landfills give off around 300,000 tonnes of methane every year. This is one fifth of New Zealand s total methane emissions and the country s second largest source of methane. n Page 36

33 Many other gases have also been found to escape from landfills. In modern systems the environmental impact of these gases is carefully managed by way of underground extraction systems. Gases are pumped out and either burned off safely or used to generate power. Another result of the breakdown process is a liquid substance called leachate. Leachate is formed when water (either from rain or underground waterways) combines with decomposing rubbish. Leachate can be drained off into nearby water treatment systems. Otherwise, it can drain into groundwater, streams, rivers and the sea. When leachate gets into the sea, it can be absorbed by fish and shellfish that we eat. When it gets into groundwater, it can find its way into our water supplies. Toxic chemicals can combine in landfills to form new toxins which can be even more dangerous than the original chemicals. Food scraps, vegetation, paper and other organic wastes break down very slowly in landfills. They all need oxygen and moisture to break down and they do not get enough of either when they are buried in a landfill. Scientists studying landfills in the United States once dug up a piece of steak that had been buried for 15 years. They could still see that it was a steak and even see the fat on it. They also found newspapers that could still be read after 12 years in a landfill. Landfill Class Plan 1. Show photos of Tirohia Landfill or visit Waiapu landfill or your local transfer station. Class Discussion What are the problems associated with landfills? Smells, rats, pests, diseases. Windblown litter. Usage of land. Contamination of land and water from leachates. Gas emission (some of which are greenhouse gases). Minimal decomposition due to poor aeration. Bring a 2kg bag of pre-sorted rubbish to class. Based on the figure of 2.kg per person per day, calculate how much rubbish the class produce as individuals and as a class each day, each week, each year. Compare this to something they can relate to (classroom, playground etc). n Page 37

34 Draw a picture (or complete photocopy) of a modern sanitary landfill. Refer worksheet. Landfill Experiment Bury some food scraps side by side with other materials such as plastic, paper and aluminium (a mixed sample could also be interesting). Mark the sites with labels from a yoghurt cup or piece of plastic. Dig them up a month later. Which materials are beginning to decompose and rot? Which are not? Explore and describe changes. Brainstorm alternatives to landfilling or incinerating waste. Discuss waste reduction, recycling, reuse and composting as safer, more efficient methods of handling our waste. Emphasise that waste reduction is the best method for handling waste as it reduces it before it is actually a disposal problem. Materials: Photos of Tirohia Landfill site. Worksheet : Landfill. 2kg of pre-sorted rubbish. Tape measure. Spade. Yoghurt pots for labels. Various categories of waste (plastic, paper, glass, organic). n Page 38

35 Reduce - students identify and develop waste reduction - activities in the classroom Objective: Students will understand that waste is not just landfill space and pollution but use of raw materials. Reduction is the first step in minimising waste. Reduction can start in the classroom. Background information: Everything we use is made from earth s resources. Some of these are renewable but many are not. If a sustainable future is to be assured, we need to conserve all our resources, especially non-renewable resources and energy. Reduction is the most important part of the 3R s of solid waste management: reduce, reuse, recycle. Reduction keeps materials out of the waste stream. Waste minimisation aims at eliminating waste before it is produced and reducing it s quantity and toxicity. Waste prevention, or to avoid making waste altogether is the primary goal. Reducing the quantities of waste we produce, lessens some of the resources and money spent on waste collection and disposal. Methods to reduce waste include purchasing only what you need, changing packaging, substituting reusable items for disposable ones and developing products that are more durable or at least repairable. The amount of rubbish you throw away can be reduced by cutting down on what you buy. Buy only what you need (don t let advertising talk you into buying anything you could just as well do without). To achieve a genuine reduction in the waste stream, it may be necessary to reject excess packaging. Recyclable packaging or a reduction in the volumes and types of packaging should be encouraged. Our purchasing patterns need to change. It is better to buy durable rather than disposable, and not to buy as much. Buying from bulk bins reduces packaging. Significant reduction in waste can be achieved by simple changes to work practices and procedures. Overseas examples show 75% of the changes necessary to reduce waste and improve operating efficiency can be attributed to good housekeeping and only 25% of the changes required technical modifications requiring capital expenditures. Paper and cardboard amounts to half the waste in schools. When a paper recycling programme is implemented in an office block, costs are substantially reduced. The survey of Gisborne household rubbish showed 10% of it was paper. n Page 39

36 Class Plan 1. Explain to students what waste reduction means. How does reducing waste before we create it help preserve resources and landfill space? Here are some ways to reduce waste: Share copies. Use blackboard whenever possible. Start a reuse it box for scrap paper. Use refillable pens. Use old exercise book paper for drawing. Use refillable items for juice bottles, lunch box, etc. 2. Using the plastic gloves, remove each piece of rubbish from the class rubbish bin and place on a newspaper covered table. Ask students how they could better use each item, e.g. reuse it, recycle it or use durable products instead of disposables. 3. Lessons from your Lunch: For thousands of years, we survived without aluminium foil, plastic wrap, lunch paper etc to keep food fresh. Next time you pack a lunch, think, about the effect of each packaging item you use. What happens to either foil, plastic, or paper when you throw it out? Is it biodegradable? Can it be recycled? What resources does it use? Could you use a reusable container instead? Ask your friends to look closely at what is in their lunch boxes. Plan an environmentally friendly picnic. Only bring what you will eat or use. Materials: Class rubbish bin (full). Plastic gloves. Lunch boxes (full). 1. A Waste Free School Develop an overall plan for the school to reduce waste (including energy, paper, food, wrappers, litter), introducing separation and recycling schemes, checking litter, composting garden and food wastes, incorporating environmental education into all areas of the curriculum. In these and other ways the whole school community becomes involved Board of Trustees, school management, teachers, students, parents, neighbours, PTA, class leaders..everyone must contribute and take responsibility for this exciting project! Phone the Gisborne District Council for assistance with this activity. n Page 40

37 2. Reduce Waste Display Develop a display for the school foyer or other prominent place on the 3R s of solid waste management reduce, reuse, recycle. Select four or five good examples of each and show how waste can be reduced (bread, paper, packaging, etc), items that can be reused (clothing, toys, sports gear, books), or recycled (cans, bottles, plastics, paper etc). Show before and after examples of repair, restoration or reuse. 3. Brainstorm Wastes In groups or as a whole class discussion, list 50 (or 100) items used in and about the home, in the community, in industry, in sport and recreation e.g. cups and saucers, tennis racquet, garden tools, clothes, shoes, batteries, chairs, light bulbs, cans, pens, nappies, stoves, bicycles, toys, flowers, fruit, etc. Now for each item, consider whether we could reduce the need for this product or repair or reuse it in some way. Or could we give it to someone else who could use it? Replace it with a more simple alternative? What can be done as individuals? Families? School? Community? City? Nation? 4. Our School Cut Out Waste! Promote a waste reduction campaign around the school with posters, logos, slogans, displays, songs etc. Use the best slogan and logo to design a T-shirt. Maybe a local business could sponsor printing the T-shirts! 5. Lessons from your Lunch For thousands of years, we survived without aluminium foil, plastic wrap, lunch paper, etc to keep food fresh. Next time you pack a lunch, think about the effect of each packaging item you use. What happens to either foil, plastics, or paper when you throw it out? Is it biodegradable? Can it be recycled? What resources does it use? Could you use a reusable container instead? Ask your friends to look closely at what is in their lunch boxes. Plan an environmentally friendly picnic. Only bring what you will eat or use. 6. Why Reduce Waste? Discuss, write an article for the local paper or school newsletter, prepare poster, or make up a display to explore the benefits of reducing waste. Investigate such issues as landfill space, saving resources and energy, reducing pollution, increasing production efficiency, cost reduction, community health and wellbeing. n Page 41

38 Reduce - to teach students how to shop objectively - What is Excessive Packaging? Objective: Students will realise how much packaging they receive when they purchase a product and will be able to make decisions about excessive packaging and necessary packaging. Background information: Using present technology and reducing, reusing and recycling, could lower the volume of rubbish going into landfills by up to 90%. As well, it conserves raw materials and energy. Taking positive action to reduce the purchase of unnecessary packaging is one of the easiest ways to reduce waste. Supermarkets provide a good venue for examining and comparing a wide variety of packaging. Class Plan 1. Visit the supermarket with the class. 2. Divide the class into groups, each group to investigate the packaging used for various categories of product, e.g. fruit and vegetables, cereals, biscuits, pet food, lollies, cleaner. 3. Can the packaging be recycled, has it been recycled previously, is all the packaging necessary. 4. Discuss why this was necessary (freshness, marketing, keep cool). 5. Divide the class into groups. Ask each group to investigate the best materials for wrapping various products (e.g. fish and chips, iceblocks, floor cleaner, lollies). 6. Report back to class with reasons for their choice. Materials: Class trip. Worksheet n Page 42

39 Shopping survey worksheet Product Type of Packaging Disposable or Durable Can it be Reused or Recycled Conclusion n Page 43

40 Additional material - find the packaging words in the Word Finder - Hard Stuff for Big Kids 1. Commercial Pressure 2. Household Waste 3. Overpackaging 4. Incineration 5. Manufacturer 6. Advertising 7. Legislation 8. Supermarket 9. Shopping Bag 10. Wastestream 11. Containers 12. Pet Bottles 13. Refillable 14. Labelling 15. Cardboard 16. Plastics 17. Consumer 18. Barcoders 19. Customer 20. Disposal 21. Retailer 22. Cartons 23. Packets 24. Product 25. Fottles 26. Reusing 27. Bulk Buy 28. Lining 29. Boxes 30. Aluminium Foil 31. Bag N I U R E M O T S U C R S L L X N C S R G N I G A K C A P R E V O C U T O E E P H D W K G K X A I R W R P E I M L R P Q Q S T E K C A P E N E I Y D M T U R W E F A N D P I T F O T H S M E T T S R R K O S C O G E I C A F H Z R O C H L A W Y I W U T I L T I U O K C F A M O G A L B L L E P L T L B P D I D F A A U U V Y P D X A A E E A P O A O U M R E S R V G A O R B S R R I R L T N R E J R E W I G D S L A A O N M P E A T M P M T H V F N V E L Y O G P R A M N U L D F S O S L I E G I I B B E S G R S I B E O E L S B L R N D A N S D H I N K O C P S T D N A L T I G K S I G R O D X E S N G S W O R E I S S U A R N C A E U J T I I A A T C B S U R L O K A G S C U W K J S W S R O A I E C T E L E G I S L A T I O N T A D L N R C O N T A I N E R S K T R C E C E J G F L Z C K X A Q Z Y U B K L U B U S T K n Page 44

41 Reuse - what might be one person s rubbish may not be rubbish or waste to someone else New Treasures from Old Objective: To show students that some things that are thrown out have value. To introduce them to the concept of REUSE as an alternative to disposal. Background information: The concept of REUSE is a simple and important one: to use something again and again. If we reused things like plastic and glass containers and recycled all that we could, our rubbish wouldn t be such a problem. There are several things we can reuse ourselves or pass on to friends, relatives or neighbours. Used toasters, televisions, radios, dolls, toys, books and clothing are just a few items that can be donated to community groups, schools or sold to second-hand shops or at garage sales. Instead of throwing that old bike away, why not repair it? Before you buy something new, why not check a second-hand shop? Simple things like reusing plastic shopping bags at the supermarket can help conserve resources and reduce our rubbish. Buying durable goods instead of disposables makes reuse easier. We can reuse items for a similar purpose such as a used glass jar for holding food or for a different purpose such as a decoration. n Page 45

42 n Page 46

43 Class Plan 1. Brainstorm: Ask class how many uses they can think of for a large peanut butter jar or a PET plastic drink bottle (have these items on display). 2. Set up a reuse box for your classroom. Have the children paint, colour, or paste pictures on it. Suggest that children place in it all materials that can be used again. Encourage children to contribute to the reuse box on a day to day basis. For example, paper that has only been used on one side can be used again for drawing paper, quiz sheets, etc. Ask the children not to screw paper up when discarding but to lie it flat in the reuse box. This becomes a paper resource for art and notes as well as dramatically reducing the volume of waste leaving the classroom. Waste items from home can be brought in to add to the reuse box. These should include: Old magazines and newspapers, cardboard tubes (not toilet paper rolls), meat trays, old socks, tin cans, milk cartons (plastic or cardboard), egg cartons, ice block sticks, old toys, juice bottles, plastic bags, margarine or butter containers. yoghurt cups, bottle tops, old calendars, pieces of cloth material, old wool or yarn. 3. Display craft books around your reuse box. 4. Place all of the waste materials in one pile on the classroom floor, taking care not to break the glass. Talk about the different resources they originated from and their individual characteristics: Toys: Plastic, wood. Magazines: Paper which comes from trees, flexible and lightweight. Plastic: Flexible, lighter than glass, waterproof, made from oil. Glass: Solid, breakable, made from sand. Aluminium: Light, doesn t rust, non-magnetic, made from bauxite. Steel: Made of alloy, magnetic, made from minerals. Paper: Light, easy to tear, made from trees. Cardboard: Sturdy, made from trees. Clothing: Made from natural fibres like cotton and wool or synthetic fibres like rayon and polyester. 5. Label boxes or piles at the front of the classroom and have children sort the waste into categories such as paper waste, clothing, metal, glass, aluminium etc. Notice the feel of the different textures and shapes. 6. Ask the students to think of ways to reuse the items in the reuse box in either their original form (e.g. juice container used again for a drink bottle or as a flower vase) or as something else (e.g. an old sock decorated to make a puppet). n Page 47

44 7. New Treasures from Old Have students create collages, models, sculptures, etc from materials in the reuse box and display them in the school library, assembly hall or classroom. OR 8. Make and paint bag puppets from waste materials, such as PET plastic bottles and cardboard boxes, milk cartons or plastic containers and use these in a play or interview about recycling. Make up a stage and stage set using cartons, corrugated cardboard, coreflute boards etc. Write a script with the same theme and using these characters and develop a show for the rest of the class or the whole school. Materials: Large peanut butter jar or a PET plastic drink bottle. Resource craft books. Include PET book obtainable from Coca Cola Industries (phone: ). Large box to convert to reuse box. Plastic gloves for sorting. P.V.A. glue, tape, paints, brushes, strong paper etc for reusing. n Page 48

45 Recycle - what is the recycling process? Why is it Important? Objective: Students will understand that recycling conserves resources, protects the environment, reduces solid waste for disposal and conserves energy. Background information: Recycling is the process of recovering materials used in industry or in the community for further uses. Recycling is one of the 3 R s of solid waste management : reduce, reuse and recycle. Recycling should be carried out when there is no further use for the item. It occurs when a product goes back into the original production process. The result is goods or items made from recycled wastes being purchased. From a global perspective, the recycling and reuse of raw materials that are in limited supply is essential if society is to sustain its present standard of living. According to research, if the developed world continues to consume mineral resources at its present rate, the world s stocks of copper, cobalt, molybdenum, nickel, platinum and petroleum will be near exhaustion by the Year New Zealand has no economic ore deposits or vital minerals such as copper, tin and aluminium. If the supply of these was cut off for any length of time, it would create many problems for the country. Recycling of these and other non-renewable resources would increase our security against outside disruption of our economy and society. Also recycling saves overseas funds by reducing the need for imports. Recycling of most materials can lead to major savings in energy. Production of aluminium for example, consumes between 90% and 95% less energy when it uses recycled aluminium cans then when it smelts new ones. In a world where most energy for manufacturing comes from the burning of fossil fuels which contribute to the greenhouse effect, this is something we can well do without. In New Zealand, of course, most of our electricity is renewable, non-polluting hydro power. However, we still get about a quarter of our electricity from burning oil and coal. Almost invariably the production of new materials, whether it is by mining minerals, pulping trees or processing oil into plastic generates more pollution than recycling those materials. Finally, when we recycle goods, they are used productively and do not enter the waste stream. We ease the impact and cost of waste disposal and fast-filling landfill sites. n Page 49

46 There has been recycling in Gisborne for many years with a kerbside collection begun in The most important aspect of the recycling cycle is that it begins with EACH OF US! After we consume something, we have a choice of whether to send it to the landfill or separate it out so it can be collected, sorted, processed and made into a new product for use again. We complete the cycle when we purchase items made from or packaged in recycled materials. The main collectors of recyclables are businesses which operate to make a profit. In addition recycling reduces disposal costs and saves money for residents and ratepayers. In addition recycling can provide jobs for New Zealanders, while saving overseas funds, local resources and energy consumption. There are many misconceptions about the quality of recycled products. For example, recycled (re-refined) oil is considered by many people to be inferior to virgin oil. This is not true as it is refined to the same international specifications by BP Oil NZ Ltd Lubricants Centre in Auckland. Glass: Glass is unique in that it is 100% recyclable such that one bottle makes one bottle. But generally over half of a new glass bottle is of recycled content. Making bottles from recycled glass, known as cullet, saves approximately 20% of the energy required in the manufacturing process. This is because the cullet melts at a lower temperature than the raw materials used for new glass. Every 6 tonnes of bottles that get recycle reduces carbon dioxide emissions by one tonne. The raw materials saved by recycling bottles and jars are: Sand Limestone Soda Ash 72% - sourced from Australia. 12% - from Te Kuiti. 14% - imported from Australia. In 2010 O-I New Zealand, based in Auckland, recycled 85,000 tonnes of glass. This removed over 7000 tonnes of waste from landfill each month. In Gisborne it is estimated that there is still 200 tonnes a year, or 8 truck loads of bottles that are going to landfill rather than being recycled. It is important that glass is separated into the colours required for the new bottles. They must be segregated into clear, green or brown before the bottles begin to get broken. Window glass, mirror glass, crystal glass and lightbulbs are not recyclable due to their high lead content. Metal: Five percent of everything we throw away in Gisborne is METAL. Metal recycling makes economic and environmental sense as pure metals and many alloys need far less energy to recycle than to mine, extract and smelt. The two most common metals found in household waste are aluminium and steel. n Page 50

47 Aluminium is one of the most abundant metals in nature. Made from bauxite, aluminium accounts for 8% of the earth s crust. From one tonne of bauxite 500kgs of aluminium and 500kgs of waste are produced. Large amounts of energy are needed to produce primary aluminium from bauxite. Once aluminium is in metal form it can be re-melted over and over again with very little metal loss in the process. Recycling aluminium cans uses a mere 5% of the energy needed to produce new aluminium. Aluminium is used extensively in beverage containers, roofing, window and door frames, boats, aeroplanes and kitchen equipment. Of all packages, aluminium cans are probably the simplest and most efficient to recycle. Steel cans, commonly known as tin cans, are made of steel and coated with a thin layer of tin. The tin layer stops the steel can from corroding. The steel can has been used for many years in New Zealand both as a food and beverage container. Once washed thoroughly steel cans can be recycled at some recycling centres and scrap metal dealers, but this facility is not currently available in Gisborne. Scrap metal recycling is another economically viable activity. Steel and iron are reclaimed from cars, railway lines, appliances and building materials. Brass is recovered from household fittings and aluminium cases. Copper taken from electrical wiring, radiators and car batteries is recycled for lead. Plastics: There are over a 1000 different polymers that make up what we know as plastic. Crude oil and natural gas are the raw material of plastics. Because of this, the financial viability of recycling plastics varies with fluctuations in international oil prices. Plastics are an inert material that does not breakdown in landfill. Until recycling of all plastics is available we can reduce the amount of plastic waste we create by buying items in bulk, avoiding single use plastic containers, using less plastic wrap, taking cloth bags to the supermarket and by encouraging manufacturers to produce more reusable plastic packaging. Reusing plastic packaging, i.e. bread bags, supermarket bags and plastic bottles can also reduce the amount of plastic that is discarded although both bread bags and supermarket bags can be recycled. Each year the average New Zealander throws away nearly 15kgs of plastic packaging. Plastics make up 14% of the household rubbish in Gisborne. Burning of plastics in household incinerators is not allowed as plastic releases gaseous pollutants, many carcinogenic, when combusted. Plastic is one of the most difficult materials to recycle because there are so many different types of it. When two or more types are blended together, the result is a low-grade plastic that can only be used for products such as flower pots, clothes pegs and fence posts. n Page 51

48 The plastics industry has a coding system for recyclable plastics. Plastics which can be recycled have a number inside a recycling symbol stamped on them. Plastic bottles are coded under this system, as are many containers used for food, detergents, shampoos etc. When plastic waste is recycled, the new product is almost always inferior to the original, due to contamination from product residues and other types of plastic. Most plastics can be recycled only two or three times, unlike glass, paper and aluminium, which can go through recycling again and again. Paper: We use and throw away enormous amounts of paper every day! 11% of the waste in rubbish bags from Gisborne s households is paper, with almost all of this being recycled. From offices and schools it would be a lot more. Much of the paper we use can be reused or recycled, saving energy, natural resources and landfill space. For each tonne of paper we recycle, we save 17 adult trees and use 30 to 55% less energy than making paper from raw materials. PAPER is made from the pulped, pressed and dried out fibres of wood. In New Zealand pulp trees are a renewable resource; from planting to maturity our pulp tree takes 20 years to grow. Most waste paper recycled in New Zealand is used to make paperboard. Small quantities are used in making printing and writing paper, tissues, toilet paper and other minor applications such as plasterboard backing. Oil: Thousands of gallons of used engine oil is drained from cars and disposed of each year. This oil is often dumped into storm drains, on land or in rubbish bins rather than being recycled. As well as this pollution, there is a large pollution potential in the shipped and piped crude oil to New Zealand for refining. New Zealand uses around 60 million litres of oil a year, but less than half is recycled. Class Plan 1. Sorting Plan This can be done in two ways - either: Have each child bring in one or two examples of waste from his or her home. (Ask children to be sure the waste has been cleaned as much as possible before bringing it in.) You may wish to bring in some examples, as well. The collection should include plastic, paper, cardboard, different types of cans and glass. Label boxes at the front of the classroom and have the children sort the waste into categories such as paper waste, metal, glass and plastic. They should manipulate it as much as possible to feel the different textures and shapes. OR Using photocopies of the two worksheets, Reuse and Recycle and Recycling Bins, ask the children to colour the recyclables, cut and paste into the correct recycling bin. From the background notes and the overhead transparency diverting the Waste Stream discuss recycling and the issues involved. n Page 52

49 2. Draw a Flowchart Draw, annotate and illustrate a flowchart to show the processes involved in the manufacture, use, distribution, collection, recycling and consequent stages in the life of a can, glass bottle, plastic container, newspaper, etc. This can be done individually or in groups. Reference to where each stage takes place in the local community or where materials come from or go to in the district can be added at the end of the next lesson. Get the children to present their findings to the class. OR Hold a debate. Select a controversial topic which will stimulate a discussion of views e.g. We don t need to recycle - who cars about the rest of the world? It s not our problem! Split the class into two groups - for and against. Give the children time to discuss the issue amongst themselves before listing the points they want to make and to select speakers for their group. An extension activity could be a letter to the editor of a local newspaper, a journalist s report of the debate or an article for the school magazine or newsletter. Materials: Two pieces of waste brought by each student. Eight boxes for sorting. OR; Photocopies of Reuse and Recycle and Recycling Bins. Overhead transparency Diverting the Waste Stream. Overhead projector and screen. Large sheets of paper, felts or crayons. n Page 53

50 Re-use and recycle - (Sorting Exercise) Colour the recyclables on this page. Then paste them into recycling bins or the repair shop and second-hand shop (on the other page). n Page 54

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54 Recycle how to recycle - where to recycle Objectives: Students will understand the common types of recyclables, why it is important to wash and clean the containers, how to properly sort them, and where to take them. Students will initiate home recycling by constructing a take home recycling kit. They will be able to explain to their families the why, what and how s of sorting recyclables. Students will also understand why it is essential to sort recyclables. Background information: Recycling is one of the primary ways of diverting waste from landfills. Recycling means to use a material over and over again. Each resident in New Zealand produces the equivalent of 2.5kg of waste each day. More than 50 percent of what we waste is reusable or recyclable. The loss of natural resources and energy and rubbish tipping costs, both environmental and economic, make recycling an important waste alternative. Recycling is simple and easy. Preparing a recycling area at home can help make recycling fun and efficient. The first step to recycling is sorting the different types of recyclables into categories. Unless the recyclable material is properly sorted it remains rubbish. It is more cost effective for households to pre-sort recyclables than machines and personnel in recycling centres. Categories Compost Organic material such as dry leaves, untreated sawdust, woodshavings or ash, peat, some paper, egg shells, dust, vegetable and fruit scraps, tea leaves, coffee grounds, lawn and hedge clippings, hair/fur, seaweed, some weeds, animal manure. Glass Glass must be recycled in separate colours - clean, brown, green. Window glass, mirror glass, crystal glass and light bulbs are not recyclable. Wash and remove tops. Aluminium Cans Separate aluminium and steel cans. Characteristics of Metal Cans - (telling the difference for recycling) Aluminium: Is not attracted by a magnet. It has no seam. If the bottom of the can is round and more shiny, then it is aluminium. Aluminium cans are used mainly in New Zealand to package drinks. n Page 58

55 Steel: Is attracted by a magnet. Bottom as a rim. If you look closely, the bottom is not finely brushed. Cardboard / Paper Clean and dry newspapers, cardboard (flattened), magazines, office paper, newsprint, photocopying paper. Wax or plastic or foil coated paper / cardboard (e.g. milk and drink containers) cannot be recycled. These should be reused where possible. Plastic Most plastic containers and bags have a number code on the bottom. This code (a triangle surrounding a number) identifies the plastic type. For example plastic milk bottles are a #2. currently recycling programmes in Gisborne accept plastics # 1 and 2. In both cases they must be rinsed and caps removed. Here are examples of the seven plastic identification codes: 1. PET (Poly-Ethylene Terephthalate) Clear plastic such as used for soft drink and some fruit juice bottles. 2. HDPE (High Density Polyethylene) Matt finish plastic, such as in milk bottles, household cleaning products, shampoo bottles, ice-cream containers, supermarket bags. 3. PVC (Polyvinyl Chloride) Not widely used in household packaging - used in spouting and downpipes. 4. LDPE (Low Density Polyethylene) Mainly plastic bags such as used for bread and drycleaning. 5. PP (Polypropylene) Mainly used in jar and bottle tops. 6. Non Expanded Styrene Yoghurt and cottage cheese tubs. Polystyrene (expanded styrene) Used in meat trays, bean bag filling and protective packaging for electrical appliances. 7. Other This category includes ABS styrene used for butter and margarine containers plus all other resins and layered multi-material. Scrap Metal Most scrap metals, including car bodies, old washing machines, broken kitchen appliances, piping etc. n Page 59

56 Oil Waste oil is taken back by most service stations and recycling centres. Car Batteries Auto electrical companies and some service stations will accept used batteries. Used Clothing Red Cross, Salvation Army, Church and School groups. Also bins for rag collection. Car Tyres Most tyre companies and service stations will accept used tyres. Building Materials Building recyclers give money for most building materials. Small off-cuts are often welcomed by Playcentres / Kindergartens etc. Kindergartens / Playcentres / Day Care Centres will often take used containers (boxes, yoghurt, egg cartons etc), magazines, cards. Enquire locally. Use garage sales, opportunity shops, second-hand shops and building recyclers. Recycling depots in gisborne The two main depots in Gisborne are: TPI Allbrites Situated Innes Street. The drop-off depot is open all the time for: White office papers and computer printouts (document destruction available) Cardboard - please crush Magazines Plastic soft drink bottles Newspaper Plastic bottles Aluminium cans Glass Rural Depots at: Te Araroa ) Tikitiki ) Ruatoria ) Te Puia ) Cardboard Tokomaru Bay ) collect Paper Tolaga Bay ) Plastic bottles and containers Te Karaka ) Steel and Aluminium cans Whatatutu ) Glass bottles and jars Matawai ) n Page 60

57 Also: Gisborne Bottle Scrap Metal Recyclers, Grey Street just beachside of Waikanae Creek behind Scragg Motors. Open 8.30am pm weekdays for scrap metal, glass, bottles and batteries. For updated recycling information visit Class Plan Invite someone from the Gisborne District Council (telephone to come and talk to you about recycling (they could bring examples of each category of recyclables and examples of products they have been made into). Students discuss sorting and separating recyclables. What materials are recyclable? How do we prepare glass, paper, aluminium, tin, plastic and other items for recycling? Pamphlet Construction Glue different coloured sheets of paper or white A4 sheets onto the cardboard. Have students label the top of each piece of construction paper with the following headings - glass, paper, aluminium, steel, plastic and other recyclables. Using the Background information, transfer the material on to each card for each recyclable item; OR Draw pictures, magazines, cut out pictures of the different categories of waste. Paste these pictures below the label and above the directions on the corresponding card to form collages. In making the aluminium card, use aluminium foil brought from home. Get the students to label the last sheet Other Recyclables. Have students punch two holes on the right hand side of the recycle sheet, two holes on both sides of the paper, glass and plastics sheets and two holes on the left side of other recyclables sheet. Connect the sheets with ribbon or wire. Students make up bin labels for each of the categories of recyclables - to be used at home. Students discuss setting up a recycling centre in their homes. Each student draws a floor plan of his or her house, marking places where the home recycling centre could be set up. Paste this plan on the back side of the recycle sheet. Public information is necessary for recycling to be successful. Students practice presenting the pamphlet to fellow classmates, their own families and the community. A special certificate can be given to those students who have successfully started recycling at home. n Page 61

58 Students make a monthly report of home recycling centre. Set up recycling containers in the classroom. Discuss and set up recycling at your school. Include paper, compost and other. Materials: Recycled cardboard Paper Glue Magazines (optional) Aluminium foil Hole punch Recycled wool, ribbon or wire n Page 62

59 How to start a school recycling programme Recycling at school is a great way to reduce waste, help our environment and educate our young people on the importance of waste minimisation. Here are some suggestions for starting a recycling programme at school. 1. Organise a recycling committee to make the programme a success. Involve your friends, students from other classes and some interested teachers and parents. 2. Organise a meeting to decide: What you will call the group. What you will recycle (see RECYCLING ). How you will collect things for recycling. Where you will place your recycling bins. Contact your local newspaper to see about advertising your programme. 5. Start recycling! 6. Keep students, teachers and parents involved. Tell them how the programme is going. Ask your recycling companies how much glass, aluminium, paper and plastic your school is recycling. 7. Hold regular meetings. To keep everyone interested in recycling, you have to make it fun. Try to organise special events at school - like environment days, recycling teams excursions. Other ideas include planting trees, organising a school composting programme, and guest speakers 3. Contact recycling companies (see RECYCLING list of contacts) to set up containers and a collection scheme. 4. Promote your recycling scheme. Create fun and colourful posters and flyers telling students, teachers and administration staff where, what and how to recycle. Put notices in your school newsletter for parents to encourage their involvement in the programme. n Page 63

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62 Word scramble All of the scrambled words have something to do with recycling. Directions Use the definitions to help you figure out each of the words, and then rewrite it as shown. The first one has been done for you. 1. YEERCCL RECYCLE The collection and processing of materials for reuse in the same form or in a different form. 2. NFLLADIL A place set aside for the disposal of rubbish by compacting and burying it. 3. ITERLT Rubbish materials carelessly thrown away on the roadside, in the woods and on the beach etc. 4. SOMPCTO A collection of plant materials, such as leaves, grass clippings, kitchen scraps etc which are layered and turned over forming a rich organic soil. 5. RATUNLA CROESSREU Valuable materials found on the earth such as wood, water, metals, minerals, gas and oil (2 words). 6. TAREAIOPSIN The sorting out of recyclable materials at home before they are taken away. 7. GAPAINKCG The wrapping or sealing used on a bought item, often designed to attract the buyer. 8. SEEUR Extend the life of an item by repairing it, changing it or making it into something new. 9. PSEMOEDCO To break down and change form back into organic matter such as when leaves turn back into soil. 10. NREINEMVOTN The community of living things both plants and animals, and all the physical and chemical conditions with which they interact. n Page 66

63 Compost - organic waste to soil conditioner Objectives: Students will understand that organic wastes can, by composting, be made into a natural fertiliser and soil conditioner. They will learn how to make compost. Background information: From the Gisborne Household Rubbish Survey (2010), it was shown that 30 % of what we throw away is organic Compost is nature s way of recycling. Dead plants break down naturally in forests and paddocks and provide the living plants with food. Composting sets up the same kind of process in your own garden. It speeds up the natural process and uses organic waste to make up rich fertisiler. This can be returned to the garden and improve the soil by adding nutrients, micro-organisms, worms and improving the soils structure and texture. For organic waste to change into compost it needs oxygen, moisture, warmth, microorganisms and worms. Very little composting takes place in the landfill mainly because there is no oxygen. Composting can greatly reduce the amount of space occupied in the landfill. The landfill site was used in 1994 for a trial to compost tomato waste. Grape waste has also been looked at. Neither of these, on their own, have been that successful. A successful composting system relies on a variety of organic material going in. A mixture of dry and wet waste. Some of the large centres in New Zealand run commercial operations where the public take their trailer load of hedge clippings etc to a central location and it is mulched and made into compost that can further be resold as a soil conditioner. Individuals or groups can hire (or purchase) garden mulchers to convert sticks and branches to a fine material suitable for composting. Recipe for compost Compost Bin You could use any of the following variations on them (make sure it is aerated): litre drum - cut the top and bottom out of the drum and drill holes in the sides to let air flow through. Site the drum on bricks and cover it with a lid or a sack. 2. Drum - cut the top and bottom out of the drum. Insert a piece of piping with holes drilled into it or drainage pipe in the centre for air to flow through. Sit the drum on bricks and cover it with a lid or sack. n Page 67

64 3. Bins can be made from wood, bricks and concrete blocks. Be sure to leave holds for air and a way to get in from the front. 4. A bin can be made with a frame of metal or wooden stakes and sides of plastic or wire mesh. This is best made in two parts - one part can be composting while the other is being filled. The sides can be pulled away to take out the finished compost. 5. Stacking bin - frames can be made from planks nailed to thicker wood at the corners. They are easy to move and can be stacked to make large amounts of compost. It is better to have two bins so that one can be turned or used while the other is being added to. Find a SUNNY SPOT to put your compost heap. Fork over the soil before you start so that worms can move up into the heap. ADD: Start off with a layer of coarse twiggy material - this will assist with drainage. Now alternate layers of browns and greens (never too thick a pile of greens such as lawn clippings). - Browns: These are high in carbon and other elements e.g. untreated sawdust, woodshavings or woodash, dry leaves, hay / straw, peat, paper, egg shells, dust (e.g. from vacuum cleaner). - Greens: These are high in nitrogen e.g. vegetable and fruit scraps, tea leaves and coffee grounds, lawn and fine hedge clippings, hair and fur, blood and bone, seaweed, animal manure, chopped weeds (care). Every now and again add a shovel or two of soil, blood and bone and in areas like Gisborne where it can be very dry in summer, a sprinkling of water. Cover to control moisture, achieve darkness and retain heat. Turn - the more often this is done, the quicker the composting time. Use it: - as a potting mix (mixed with sand or pumice) - for mulching - dig it in (no dig methods can be used where a few layers of newsprint are placed on the ground and compost placed over this. n Page 68

65 DO NOT ADD: Thick woody stems (these take too long to rot). Not problem weeds such as oxalis, dock, couch or ripe seed heads. Diseased plant material. Food scraps - encourage pests e.g. meat, fat, dairy products, bones, bead etc. Non biodegradable materials and toxic substances (treated wood, disinfectants etc). Composting can achieve a bad reputation because of smell and vermin. This will not happen if you use quality wastes and ensure aeration by timing plus moisture / temperature control. Diagram of a Compost Heap n Page 69

66 Class Plan 1. Ask class if anyone has compost at home. Get students to bring a sample of the finished compost to school or visit a home gardener and collect some. Bring a small sample of commercial potting mix. 2. Use your senses - feel, smell, look. Discuss the difference with the class (seedlings often grow better in commercial potting mix as it has been sterilised. Sand or pumice is added to assist drainage). 3. Plant some seeds in the compost and commercial potting mix (you could also include some garden soil). 4. Watch them grow. 5. Discuss what is needed to make compost. Discuss how the children could make compost. 6. Dig a trench outside and fill it with layers of organic material as described in background notes. 7. Study Natural Cycles. Find an area of trees and shrubs within the school grounds or in a nearby park or reserve. Make the connection that leaves become soil by letting the children see and feel the layers of leaf and soil that you have collected. Have children dig a small hole through the leaf layer into the soil. Have children make sketches and take notes on what they observe. Help children understand that a tree s leaves fall, decay into the soil, nourish the tree by making the soil richer, and thus help the tree to grow and produce more leaves. Explain further to the children that the leaves produce oxygen for us to breathe. Tell them that a series of events in nature that repeat over and over is called a NATURAL CYCLE. Explain also the role that bacteria, worms and slugs have to play in this process. Not only is it a natural cycle, but a living cycle. n Page 70

67 8. Have students draw pictures / poster. 9. Help the students build a mini-compost bin e.g. perforated drum as outlined in Background Notes OR start a School Compost Scheme. Talk with your syndicate, senior staff, Board of Trustees, caretaker etc to establish the scope of the scheme. Involve your class in planning the site, construction of bins, costings, permission from the Principal and Board of Trustees and maintenance. Decide what will go into the bin (fruit scraps, garden weeds, lawn clippings, prunings etc). How will these be collected, will they need shredding? What about flies, rats, safety, smells? Should the bin be covered? Do we need to turn it over occasionally? Where are we going to use our compost? Will two bins be enough? Phone Gisborne District Council Environmental Health Section (06) for composting information and assistance. Materials: Samples of compost and potting mix Container for compost Organic material to add Fork / spade for turning Yoghurt or milk containers to grow seeds in n Page 71

68 Litter - litter is waste in the wrong place Objective: Students will understand what litter is and how it can be avoided. Background information: Litter is refuse or rubbish which is discarded in public places. Litter is an unsightly problem in our communities, schools being no exception. Litter can be prevented by making people aware of the problems it creates and the simple ways to avoid creating it in the first place. Plastic, paper, glass and metal packaging make up a large proportion of litter. Litter results from the improper disposal of household and commercial rubbish, construction and demolition sites, loading and delivery areas, boats and ships, uncovered trucks and trailers, and from careless motorists and pedestrians. In cities, litter is usually collected and transported to waste disposal facilities. However, in rural areas litter is seldom collected, leaving an unattractive sight. Litter affects not only the quality of our surroundings, but it can seriously harm wildlife. Litter in our waterways, called marine debris, can choke and strangle sea life. Animals can easily mistake pieces of littered plastic for food. This litter in the water comes not only from careless beach goers, boaties and fishermen, but also from people littering in the streets. This litter finds its way to the gutter and then the stormwater drains. These drains are meant to carry water but often carry waste like used oil, plastic containers and food scraps to the sea. Programmes like Keep NZ Beautiful, Cleanup week, Beach Care, and Sustainable Coastlines were created to clean up unsightly litter with the help of concerned individuals. These programmes aim to effectively change people s attitudes towards litter from careless to responsible. Class Plan 1. Look at litter in public places. Ask the children how it makes them feel when they go for an outing or picnic or the beach and find this. 2. Complete the Worksheet - Litter. 3. Have the students save their lunch bags or bring a grocery bag from home. 4. Students walk around the school yard and the neighbourhood, picking up humanmade litter. Record items and where they were found. On return to classroom, have the students empty their litter collection onto pieces of newspaper. Students discuss where each piece was found. Are more rubbish bins necessary for these areas? 5. What might have caused litter in that place? Who may have left it there? Why? How? How can we prevent litter? At home? At School? Along the road? n Page 72

69 6. Make a list of responses on the blackboard. Have students sort and count the litter according to types of material and discuss whether it can be reused or recycled. How many items really need to be disposed of. 7. Using the Worksheet - Litter, brainstorm then write a report on the environmental consequences of throwing rubbish from car windows. OR Adopt a local beach, roadside or park to experience personal involvement in caring for the environment. Clean this regularly. If necessary, follow this up with a letter to the Editor of the local newspaper voicing concerns about litter in the spot you have adopted. OR Have the children make a litter collage (say on a round piece of cardboard). These look good spray painted silver or gold. Display these. 8. Colour in litter worksheet identifying all the people littering. 9. Worksheet - Wordsearch Litter. Materials: Photos Plastic bags Worksheets - Litter Further Activities 1. Organise a litter awareness week for the school. Assign students to make posters, leaflets, write poems or newspaper articles, or arrange a special book display in the library or even design a T-shirt. 2. The whole class / school can create a mural / collage promoting litter awareness. Ideally this should be made of rubbish or recycled items and should be placed in the lunch bay. 3. Schedule a school litter clean up day at the beginning of your litter awareness week. Have a school assembly at the end of the week to announce the results of the clean up. Give prizes for the tidiest lunch areas or classrooms. n Page 73

70 WORKSHEET - Litter Litter is a bad habit. Always putting your rubbish in a litter bin, or taking it home with you if there is no litter bin available, is a good habit. A habit is the way we always behave in a particular situation, often without giving much thought to what we are doing and why we are doing it. For example, always sitting at the same place at the dinner table at meal times. Some habits are good, some are bad and some are neither good nor bad. Brushing one s teeth before going to bed is an example of a good habit, while biting one s nails is a bad habit. Habitually putting on one s right shoe before one s left shoe is neither good nor bad. It saves time not having to decide each morning which shoe to put on first. Write down some of the things you and your family do every day. Are these good or bad habits, or neutral ones (i.e. neither good nor bad) What good habits could you develop in order to make your world a cleaner, tidier place (for example, always putting your toys away after playing with them)? People excuse their bad habit of littering by thinking it doesn t matter if they drop litter: In places which don t belong to them because they are not responsible for keeping such places tidy. In places which are regularly cleaned up because someone else will clean up after them. In places where litter has already been dropped because their little piece of litter will not make much difference. Most things we buy com in packages or wrappings. After people have consumed the contents of a package or a wrapping, they all too often throw it on the ground instead of putting it into the rubbish bin. Nature s packages can also become litter if thrown away in the wrong place after use by people. n Page 74

71 If you are at a beach where there is no litter bin and you have an empty soft drink bottle and potato chip packet you no longer want, what should you NOT do with these items? Why? What should you do with your bottle and packet? n Page 75