Earth Masters

Make your students "Earth Masters," saving the planet through reusing products, recycling materials and reducing waste

Day 1 - Reuse: Look for ways to save the Earth's resources by reusing items instead of throwing them away

Ask the class for a definition of "reuse" and write it on the board. Have them list items that they reuse. The list may include paper and plastic containers and bags, metal cans, bottles and jars, and scrap paper. For example, the plastic bag website has ideas for reusing plastic bags submitted by visitors to the site. Check the reuse section under Paper or Plastic? at www.plasticbag.com

Help children think of ways they could reuse other items: toys, books, games, and clothing. (Give them to friends, or relatives, charitable groups, libraries, or used bookstores.)

Ask students to make a list and/or draw a picture of how they reuse/can reuse paper or plastic bags.

Day 2 -Recycle: Learn how to turn trash into treasures

Ask the class to define "recycling" and write in on the board. Be sure to include the idea of "closing the loop" - trace the loop from the manufacturing of a product, to its use, to its recycling and production of a new item.

Have them list things they recycle such as newspapers, cardboard, glass and plastic bottles, food and beverage cans, paper and plastic grocery bags.

Discuss how they are recycled - in bins at the curb or taken back to the store. Discuss ways in which they can recycle these materials properly:

1. Remove lids and rinse jars
2. Remove labels, rinse and flatten cans
3. Dispose of caps, rinse and flatten plastic jugs and bottles
4. Turn plastic bags inside out to remove scraps and store recepts

Create and distribute a "Recycle-Mania activity" in which you list in one column the following six product categories

• newspapers
• plastic bags
• plastic jugs for milk, juice and water
• plastic soft drink bottles
• used aluminum beverage cans
• glass bottles and jars for food and beverages.

In another column, list the following new items that can be created from recycled products:

• new plastic bags
• newspaper for printing
• T-shirts, sweaters and shoes
• recycling bins
• new beverage cans
• fleece and fiberfill clothing, sleeping bags
• fleece and fiberfill clothing, sleeping bags
• new bottles
• new bottles and jars
• lumber for decks
• lumber for decks
• new jugs for liquids
• speed bumps and traffic barriers
• carpet fibers

Now ask students to match the old item with the new item it can become when recycled.

Ask the classs for a definition of "reduce" and write in on the boards. Point out that when people go on a diet, they reduce the amount of food they eat in order to lose weight. Reinforce that we want to reduce the resources we use in order to save (conserve) them for the future.

Reduce - Source Reduction is the first of the environmental 3Rs. It means using less material in the production of an item. It also refers to consuming less energy and generating less waste in making, using, and disposing of products ranging from automobiles to milk jugs.

Being lightweight and durable helps products and/or their packaging require less material, consume less energy in the manufacturing process, and generate less waste after they are used. Remind students that using these products/packaging helps them use less of the Earth's resources and benefits the environment by following the 1st of the Environmental 3Rs: Reduce.

Activity 1 - A Juicy Investigation

Bring in fruit juice in a variety of packages available at the grocery store. Items to include in the sampling are listed in the chart below.

Ask students to rank packages in order with #1 being the best environmental choice from the standpoint of Source Reductions (has the least packaging for the most product delivered). Have them discuss their choices by noting the amount of juice or servings in each package. If possible, have students weigh the packages and compare them.

Teacher's note: To arrive at an efficiency rating to support the correct answer to the ranking, refer to the table below. The rating is determined by dividing the number of fluid ounces of juice by the ounces of packaging, as shown in the example. The items with the most juice per ounce of packaging have the best ratings.

After students discover the correct ranking of the juice containers, have them compare the amount of waste generated by each package after use. Discuss ways to reduce the waste (recycle, reuse, compost, use concentrate in a reusable pitcher, etc.)

Juice Item	Fluid oz. of Juice	Oz. of Packaging	Fluid oz. of Juice per oz. of Packaging
Concentrate (juice box)	46.0	0.5	92.0 [46 oz of juice/.5 oz.of packaging = 92]
Concentrate (frozen, paperboard)	48.0	1.1	43.6
Half-gallon HDPE bottle (jug)	64.0	1.7	37.6
Paper Carton	64.0	2.3	27.8
Juice Box	8.5	0.4	21.3
Stand-up flexible pouches (Capri-Sun, including outer box)	67.8	6.7	10.1
Steel can	46.0	5.7	8.1
Glass bottle	32.0	15.7	2.0
10 oranges	27.0	41.0	0.7

This activity is based on a lesson in "An Ounce of Prevention," a Middle Level Science Curriculum on Source Reduction, which also is available on this web site.

Activity 2 - Resource Conservation

Compare a paper bag with a plastic bag. Ask two students to crumple one of each at the same time. Ask which one would take up less space in a landfill. Point out that taking up less space is a way to conserve resources.

Another method of resource conservation is to use less material in the product. For example, over the years plastic bags have reduced the amount of material used while remaining strong enough to carry items safely. Discuss ways in which students can use less resources by buying products in thin, flexible packages or refillable containers, reusing scrap paper, turning out lights, and taking shorter showers.

(If students ask questions regarding degradability of materials in a landfill, you may want to suggest that if the site is properly constructed, nothing degrades in a landfill since it is tightly packed and covered with soil. The landfill construction deprives waste materials of light and oxygen needed for decomposition.)

Concluding Activity

Explain to the class that when they recycle, reuse, and reduce, they save materials, water, energy, gasoline, and other resources occurring naturally in the environment.

Instruct students to:
Draw a picture of yourself as an Earth Master and list three things you will do to conserve resources in the new millenium!

Extension Activities

Reduce/Reuse

1. Have children make a list of the packaging materials in their garbage at home for three days, bring their list to class, and then discuss ways to reduce the waste, recycle cans/bottles, reuse bags, recycle aluminum wrap, buy items with less packaging, etc.

Recycle

2. Help students locate a local outlet for plastic lumber by contacting the Trex^® Wood-Polymer Lumber site on the Internet at www.trex.com or call their local lumber/building supply retail outlet. See if the local store manager can sponsor a tour or visit the class with a piece of lumber made from recycled plastic bags.
   
   
3. Contact the local recycling center for tips on the items that can be recycled, the money paid for the recycled items, and the best methods for preparing them for recycling.

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