GARDENING WEEK 5 RECYCLE, REDUCE, REUSE ORGANIC GARDENERS!

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1 GARDENING WEEK 5 RECYCLE, REDUCE, REUSE ORGANIC GARDENERS! What we would like you to learn: 1. Learn about the 3 R s: recycle, reduce, reuse. 2. Learn about our Earth s natural resources and why it is important to recycle and reuse materials. 3. Learn some techniques for reduce, reuse, recycle in the garden. 4. Discuss ways to reduce, reuse, recycle at home. EDUCATOR

2 Conserving our Earth s Natural Resources There are many types of conservation. One of the most important is the conservation of our natural resources on Earth our air, water and land. The 3 R s help keep the resources we have already mined in production, allowing less land to be mined or cut and putting less waste in the ground. Reducing and reusing are important. They reduce the need for more energy in the production of materials. Let s consider the life cycle of a plastic bottle: WEEK 5 EDUCATOR: RECYCLE, REUSE, REDUCE 2

3 Before we drink water from a plastic bottle, consider the journey that the bottle has been on. Plastic starts out as petroleum (or crude oil), one of Earth s natural resources. Petroleum has to be extracted from the ground and transported in long pipelines to chemical plants where it can be refined. Plastic bottles are made using refined crude oil and other chemicals. Why is it important to think about how many plastic bottles we use? Recycling saves natural resources. Plastic bottles use energy and other natural resources to be produced. Fact: To produce one plastic bottle requires three to seven times its volume in water and approximately a quarter of its volume in oil. Recycling saves energy. Transportation of plastic bottles uses more fuel. Fact: Many plastic bottles are shipped to the United States on big boats from places as far away as Latin America, Europe, and the Pacific Islands. Once these bottles arrive in the United States, they are transported by trucks or trains to grocery stores. These boats, trucks and trains use fuel gas and oil just like our cars. This causes us to dig for more oil and adds to pollution in our atmosphere. Recycling saves our environment. Throwing away bottles into the garbage after each use adds more trash to our landfills. Fact: Plastic takes many years more than a lifetime! to degrade or break down. Recycling plastics is a difficult process. A big problem is that it is difficult to sort plastic waste and requires a lot of people to do this, making it labor intensive. WEEK 5 EDUCATOR: RECYCLE, REUSE, REDUCE 3

4 Let s define the following terms: Recycle: To collect, separate, and process an item that would have been thrown away, and reuse it or re-manufacture it into a new item. Reuse: To use again. To use an item a second, third, etc. time after its original use. Reduce: To use less. To cut down the use of an item. Instead of throwing away a plastic water bottle after each use, here are some other ideas: Reuse the bottle: Refill your bottle with water from the tap at your home. Tap water is clean, safe and free! It will save money each time you refill your water bottle because you won t spend money on buying a new one. Find another use for your plastic bottle in the garden! WEEK 5 EDUCATOR: RECYCLE, REUSE, REDUCE 4

5 Exercise: How to make a deep watering can out of a two liter empty bottle. Teacher o Remove the cap. Demonstrate o Cut off the bottom of the bottle with scissors. (If teaching children, advise that they please ask an adult to supervise. If teaching adults, advise that they supervise children.) o Turn the bottle upside down. o Set the spout into the ground or pot. (About 6 inches deep) o Fill with water. This method will allow deep vegetable roots to get watered. WEEK 5 EDUCATOR: RECYCLE, REUSE, REDUCE 5

6 Teacher Demonstrate if time permits Here are some other examples of things at home that you can reinvent for use in your garden: 1. Use empty citrus rinds for the simplest seed-starting container of all. Just fill the rind with potting soil, place one or two seeds in each, support it upright, and water to moisten the mix. Thin to one seedling per rind. Transplant the whole unit into the garden. The rind will decay into the soil, and the roots will benefit by the fertilizer close at hand. 2. Slip half-gallon milk cartons with the tops and bottoms cut off over celery plants to blanch them as they grow. 3. Save your mom s used pantyhose to hang individual fruits and vegetables from trellises and to protect them from birds, earwigs, snails, and other munchers. This works well for corn, cucumbers, grapes, melons, peaches, small pumpkins, and squash. WEEK 5 EDUCATOR: RECYCLE, REUSE, REDUCE 6

7 How can I practice the 3 R s at home? For each of the following ways to recycle, reuse, reduce, think of an example of how you can do this at your home with your family. Buy items with less packaging: Buy less stuff: Share: Look for things that are made from recycled products: Recycle at home using your blue bin: Buy second-hand items: FUN Fact(s) of the week: The first synthetic plastic was invented in It s estimated that an average family of 4 in the United States takes home 1,000 plastic bags each year from the store. Recycling one aluminum can saves enough energy to run a TV for three hours. If all our newspaper was recycled, we could save about 250,000,000 trees each year! WEEK 5 EDUCATOR: RECYCLE, REUSE, REDUCE 7

8 Test yourself: Which of the following are some examples of the Earth s natural resources? (circle all that apply) a) Water b) Petroleum/Crude Oil c) Automobiles d) Forests Match the following item at your home that you might otherwise throw away into the trash with a corresponding second use. Item Popsicle stick Plastic bag Old shirt that doesn t fit anymore Cardboard box Second Use Storage for my extra toys Label for my seedling Pick up my dog s poop A rag for cleaning On your own: Activities for children Take a look at what your family throws away into the trash at your home tonight. How many things can you count that could be recycled or reused? Write about the things you counted in your journal and tell us about it next week in class. Activities for parents With my children: Take a look at what your family throws away into the trash at your home tonight. How many things can you count that could be recycled or reused? Ask your child to find one thing that could be recycled or reused. Discuss together two other uses for this item. WEEK 5 EDUCATOR: RECYCLE, REUSE, REDUCE 8