Garbology

Recycling in schools: A guide to accompany the television program

FULL CIRCLE

Randee Haven-O’Donnell

copyright 1991 environmental media p.0. box 1016 chapel hill nc 27514

GARBOLOGK thegu-.de to accompanyFULL CIRCL4 was wrihen and field tested by Randee Ha ven-O Donnell For ihformation about establishing school-based re- cychhgprograms contacp

Randee Ha Yen-ODonnell Rt. IBox150

Fittsborq NC 27312-8105 (919) 967-9677

A copy of the music andlpics for the FULL CIRCLE ttleme may be purchased by contacting;'

GriYfin Music Design l? 0. Box 2775

Chapel Hi74 NC 27515

For copies of the GARBOLUGYguide and the FULL CIRCLE video program as well as other media to suppo~~ en nkonmental educafrn contacp

En nkonmenfal Meda R 0. Box 1016

ChapelHi74 N C 275.4 (919) 933-3003 Fax (919) 942-8785

Copyright 1991 Environmental Media All Rights Reserved.

No part of this work may be reproduced or copied in any form without the written consent of Environmental Media.

Table of Contents

Introduction to FULL CIRCLE and GARBOLOGY 1 Rationale 2 GARBOLOGY Curricuium Outhe 3 What is Trash? 5 The Landfill Trip 7 Composting 9 Prec ycling 11 Glossary 13

APPENDIX Landfill Letter Landfill Trip Critique Landfill Observation and Recording Garbology Worksheet

Bibliography Curriculum Materials

Introduction

FULL CIRCLE is a.26-minute video program ac panied by this user's guide which is designed for the development of a school-based solid waste manage- ment curriculum. FULL CIRCLE will inform junior and senior high school stu- dents about the issues of waste management and motivate their involve school and community waste reduction, reuse and recycling programs.

The GARBOLOGY guide focuses on the integration of waste management issues into on-going content studies. The guide highlights the interdisciplinary nature of solid waste management curriculum. The GARBOLOGY guide is a recipe for preparing school-based curriculum, recycling projects and recycling programs.

The GARBOLOGY program objectives clarify solid waste issues, provide informa- tion, encourage responsible decision making and promote school and commun- ity recycling programs. The activities demonstrated in FULL CIRCLE are out- lined in the GARBOLOGY' guide. Included are a trash analysis in the classroom, a class landfill visit to see landfill construction and management, and a school- based composting program.

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Rationale

The GARBOLOGY curriculum was developed to enhance student comprehen- sion of solid waste management issues and their effect on the environment. The study of solid waste management is the study of the care of the earth through the stewardship of land, water, air, and natural resources. Studying solid waste management provides an opportunity for students to examine their own habits and those of their community. It engages students in the practices of soil and water conservation, waste reduction, resource reuse and recycling, while enabling the students and their school to work in collaboration with the community to improve the quality of the environment.

GARBOLOGY lessons examine three aspects of solid waste. First, how is waste generated? Secondly, where does waste go and why? Finally, what kinds of decisions are made about the generation and disposal of solid waste? The idea of conservation is basic to all three aspects of GARBOLOGY. Through GARBOLOGY one observes that each person generates four pounds of waste each day. This is often shocking, and it motivates one to know more . . . to question. What causes so much waste to be produced? Do I need to create so much waste? Where does it go? Questions such as these raise student aware- ness. Students become aware of their personal contribution to the waste stream. They see the connections among cycles and begin to understand the concept of conservation through waste reduction, reuse and recycling.

So, when we throw something away, where is away? Student GARBOLO- GtSTS explore the local landfill and learn how a landfill operates, they in- vestigate the issues of soil and water conservation. Students witness the loss of natural resources being buried daily in the landfill.

Beginning with the analysis of trash, followed by a visit to the landfill, stu- dents become increasingly aware of the personal action they, their families, and their friends can take to make a difference. Students can serve as role models in their schools and community. Educators can guide and empower students to serve as models by facilitating projects and programs which en- courage waste reduction and recycling.

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GARBOLOGY Curriculum Outline

Introduction

The GARBOLOGY curriculum outline gives an overview of five content areas, suggesting ways to integrate the study of solid waste management into on-going instruction.

In practice, as it is implemented, the GARBOLOGY curriculum is expanded by the teacher. The program takes on additional dynamics as it grows beyond the class- room, the school and the home; reaching businesses and community agencies.

Recycling behavior is part of a system of values about the earth and its life. Recycling provides a practical way of affecting small changes in students which expand into lifelong patterns of behavior. Behavioral change is encouraged and needs to be consistent in order to establish an effective model. Begin with one brick at a time, slowly layering the interdisciplinary activities. Make it "doable." Stqdents need as many opportunities as possible to be active in problem solving, decision making and program planning in order to strengthen their success and committment to recycling.

Recycling Education in Content Areas

I. Science and Environmental Education

-Scientific method of observation and recording. -Ecology and the study of habitats. -Natural resources, study of origins, cycles, uses and reuses. -Environmental hazards (pollution of air, water, soil) -Problem solving-generating solutions to solid waste issues; reduction, recycling, reuse, reprocessing, replenishment. -Study of solid waste management issues and options. -Land and energy use. -Composting: the study of soil, bacteria, the process of organic decay. -The theory and practice of reduction, reuse, recycling, and composting. -Cycles of life, water, food, waste. -tnteraction and interdependency of animals, plants and humans with the en- vironment.

11. Language A r t s

-Data collection and recording.

-Related stories and poems, ie. She1 Silverstein's "Hector the Collectortt and "Sarah Sylvia Cynthia Stout." -Media studies to collect information on the relationship between advertising and product purchasing. -Library/Media skills in locating, organizing and communicating information. -Letter writing. -Writing motivated by GARBOLOGY activities such as the trash analysis and the landfill trip. (Trip Critiques)

111. Mathematics

-Recording, charting, graphing, weighing, measuring skills. -Calculating cost and benefits of waste management options. -Compilation and analysis of survey data. -Graphing - varied use of graphics: bar graphs, pie graphs, pictographs, for contrasting and comparing. -Product/Storage container analysis: volume and weight information and analysis. -Landfill Tipping/Hauling Fees - product disposal analysis.

Tv. Social Studies

-Discussions of the political and economic criteria for waste management deci- sions. -Trade-offs in a consumer society ... Do product costs reflect costs to environ- mental quality? -Product packaging, marketing and advertising. -Demographics -Geography skills, ie landform, climate, natural resources, mapping. -Schools and their relation to other community agencies. -Economics, the study of free market systems: How tighter controls of solid waste generation will impact manufacturers and product development.

V. Enrichment and Extension

-Field trips to landfills, recycling sites, incinerators, haulers, business and in- dustrial leaders. Local community officials. -School trash survey. -Recycling and waste reduction at school sites and events. -School mini-landfills, composting. -Contact with local, regional and national organization for information (see bibliography). -Guest speakers, panel discussions and debates. -Audio-visual materials (see bibliography).

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What Is Trash?

Introduction

The GARBOLOGY lesson objective is to inform students about the issues of solid waste management and recycling. The lesson presents a model which can effectively reduce and divert natural resources from landfills.

Materials

1. A brown bag of household trash and a container of organic foodscraps (without meat) separated into a non-leaking container. 2. Brooms, dustpans, shovels (if composting organics is possible) 3. Pencil and clipboard. 4. Masking tape and name tags for each of the waste categories. 5. Extra plastic or other strong waste bags for sorted trash. 6. Magnets. 7. Bathroom and hook scales to weigh individual and sorted group waste. 8. Large vinyl cloth or tarp which will allow trash to be spread on the ground, floor or a table. 9. GARBOLOGY recording worksheet. 10. Student group task assignments including Data Collector, Weigher, and Collectors (for glass, aluminum, newspaper, organic, non-recyclables, and hazardous waste.) 11. Gloves, at least one, available for inexperienced participants.

Procedure

1. Students are divided into groups of four or five. 2. Each member of the group is assigned the task of data collector, weigher, or collector of products, ie glass, aluminum, newspaper, organic waste, non- recyclables, and hazardous waste. 3. Group members each weigh their trash. 4. Each individual estimates the total amount of their trash that may be recycled. Recyclables are then weighed to verify estimates. 5. Trash is sorted into five categories including, glass, aluminum, newspaper, non-recyclable (including hazardous), and organic. 6. Weigh the piles of trash and have the data collector weigh the totals. 7. Pull out non-recyclables and sort the hazardous waste. 8. Pool piles from all groups and label with name tags. Record total weights and discuss observations. 9. Compost organics, if possible, for followup observations and recording re. composting. 10. Box or bag all items to be recycled.

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The Landfill Trip

Introduction

Throw it away. But where is away? There's no such place as away. Every- thing must go somewhere. The landfill is a place where solid waste is buried, but is not "away".

As an educational experience visiting a landfill demonstrates the following:

B k e d solid waste must be carefully planned for.

Natural resources are buried at landfills.

Landfills affect soil and water purity.

A field trip to a landfill site is an opportunity to experience the dilemma of plan- ning for solid waste. It's an awesome feeling to know you're standing atop a mountain of garbage! What happens to waste-filled soil, and the water that percolates through it? What is leachate, and why is it important? What can be done to conserve the natural resources being buried daily?

Behold the landfill! Amid the debris lies a wealth of natural resources. Ironi- cally, while our natural resources are limited and shrinking, each day we lay to rest vast amounts of reusable and recyclable materials and products.

Visiting a landfill also provides an opportunity for students to evaluate their own habits and those of society. They are no longer disconnected from the mountain of waste. Students, as citizens, recognize their impact on the en- vironment, They respond by contributing positively and actively to school and community programs promoting soil and water conservation, waste reduction, and resource recovery through recycling.

Purpose: To provide a model field trip to a sanitary landfill site.

Preparation

1. Garbology Community Recycling Resource List. 2. Landfill Trip-Pack guide for pre-trip." 3. Pre-trip with solid waste planner or recycling coordinator as

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guide.

4. Request letter to the landfill official. (Prepare for a rain date!) 5. Your landfill trip-pack (specific to the local landfill you have pre-tripped, mapped, with trip-pack focus questions).

Materials

1. Pre-trip date specific to your student trip. (See Landfill Trip-Pack in guide). 2. Letter of request to the landfill official. 3. Student landfill trip-packs. 4. Clipboards for students. 5. Pencils and additional blank paper. 6. School District field trip permission forms.

*It is suggested that for the landfill, as on any field trip, the teacher and guide do a walk through to determine logistics. Prepare by pre-planning and pre- viewing!

Procedure :

1. Review a) Garbology lesson and vocabulary. b) Landfill Trip-Pack.

2. Contact The local solid waste planner, recycling coordinator or person officially desig- nated as landfill guide re: trip plans and pre-tripping data.

3. Pre-Trip The landfill site with the person who will be the "guide" for the student trip. Experience the trip as you intend the students to experience it.

4. Read Landfill Trip-Pack, develop focus map and questions specific to the landfill you are visiting.

5. Prepare Trip-packs for your students.

6. Field Trip Invite additional adults/parents to attend. Bring a camera to document the experience.

7. Critique Evaluate the trip with students.

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Composting

Introduction

Composting builds soil and helps conserve its richness. Composting reduces the amount of garbage thrown away. A compost pile mixes together kitchen waste (non-meat food scraps), lawn grass cuttings, leaves, weeds, and soil. Composting requires some yard space, garbage, soil, moisture, and aeration. I t seems too simple, but there's not much that can go wrong in a compost pile. Microbes (bacteria, fungi), worms, beetles, centipedes, and millipedes are a few of nature's recyclers. They are ready to move in immediately and eat their way through the waste. Composting provides the appropriate environ- ment for nature's decomposers to recycle nutrients and replenish the soil.

Composting kitchen and yard waste is a clean, efficient and effective method of disposing organic waste. It diverts organic material from the waste stream and/or landfill and replenishes the soil.

. Materials

1. Yard space of 3 ft. cubed, (27 cu. ft.). A compost pile needs to be large enough to generate heat to hold the activity of the microbes, and yet be small enough to aerate, allow enough air to reach the center.

2. Air and water. The compost pile needs moisture and air to sustain the community of decom- posers. To prevent dryness, avoid an area of direct sunlight. Turn the compost pile to aerate it.

3. Compostables. a) Kitchen waste (non-meat food scraps) b) Leaves, lawn and grass cuttings c) Chickedhorse manure (optional), enhances the quality of the soil pro- duced. d) soil

4. You may want to create a chicken wire fence to define and contain the compost area.

Procedure

1. Turn soil that will "bed" the organic waste.

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2. Put in the organic waste. Cover with about an inch of soil. 3. As waste is produced, repeat the process forming layers of soil and garbage. 4. Provide aeration, turn the pile every week or so. 5. Check for dryness, add water if the pile is not moist. Remember compost- ing will happen as long as the mixture of soil and garbage are kept moist and aerated. Compost in a test site for a few months, give it six months to see the effect.

Follow-up

1. What kinds of changes took place during this time? Which materials decomposed quickly? Which did not? Why?

2. Did your garbage lose weight as a result of composting? If so, how much?

3. How does the composted material compare to the original material?

4. What would have happened if this compostable material had gone to the landfill?

5. What is the problem of putting large amounts of organic waste into a landfill?

6. Compare composting for these wastes with landfilling or incineration. Which are you more comfortable with and why?

7. What about composting at schools? Is it possible to compost the pre or post consumer cafeteria waste?

8. What about the idea of community composting for yard waste?

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Precycling

Introduction

School-age students are aggressive consumers. Unfortunately, shopping malls have replaced parks and backyards as places for teenagers to "hang out." FULL CIRCLE overstates the problem as a teenager reflects on a mountain of packaging and the small present she has purchased. FULL CIRCLE and the GARBOLOGY guide will not change the acquisitive nature of North American teenagers, but it does offer a few tips to help students reduce the amount of packaging they purchase. Students can reduce the waste they produce through precycling.

How to Precycle

1. Product Choice At the store, consider the environmental impact of each purchase you make. What is the product made of? Is it safe for the environment? Can it be reused or recycled? Often the environmental 'kostsl' of manufacturing, distributing, and consumption of a product are not built into the dollars you pay. Can you quantify those costs for a given product? In FULL CIRCLE, we see the student unwrap a small present in the "uncommercial". She tosses out paper, poly- styrene, and plastic bubble wrap. What are the environmental costs of each of the products? Is the manufacturing process detrimental to the environment? How about disposal of the products? Can they be recycled?

2. Package Choice At the store, reach for the product packaged in recyclable materials. Bring your own bags to the store. Look for the recycling symbol (three arrows in a circle) on packages, indicating that the package is recyclable, or made of recycled materials.

3. Less Packaging If the packaging isn't necessary to protect the product, buy the less-packaged alternative. It probably will cost less. Carry a cup or mug with you and use it in place of plastic or paper disposables.

4. Longer-life Products Buy items designed for reuse, ie. thermos jars, rechargeable batteries, cloth napkins, sponges, and others.

5. Second Life Products When you no longer need clothing or household items, consider giving them to charity or to a thrift shop style store.

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6. Fix It! When items need repair or mending, do so. Give local businesses which spe- cialize in repair your business. Purchase items which will last and last.

7. Bulk Buying Bring your own large containers with you to the store. Store brands and

ds are often less packaged.

8. Tell 'Em What You Think Talk to store managers about your thoughts and interests in packaging. Write or call your state and federal officials to give support to laws that favor recycling and which reduce unnecessary and non-recyclable packaging.

Glossary

AERATION. To expose to the circulation of air.

AQUIFER. A porous layer of earth which acts as a container supplying water to wells or springs.

BACTERIA. Microscopic organisms; nature’s decomposers.

BIMETAL. Made of two metals. Example: cans made of aluminum and steel.

BIODEGRADABLE. Those materials that can decompose in a short period of time.

COMPOSTING. The optimal environment to decompose food waste, grass, leaves and other organic waste forming humus, a fertile soil conditioner.

CONSERVE. To protect from loss or depletion. To preserve.

CULLETT. Scrap glass.

CURBSIDE COLLECTION. Refuse or recycling collection which occurs at the resident’s curb.

DECOMPOSE. To break down into its basic elements. To rot, to decay.

ENVIRONMENT. The surroundings of a living organism.

GARBAGE. Waste materials in particular pertaining to food scraps.

GROUNDWATER. Water that seeps down below the earth’s surface filling wells and springs.

HAZARDOUS WASTE. Waste which is dangerous to living organisms due to its poisonous or volatile characteristics.

LEACHATE. A liquid that has percolated through or been generated by solid waste decay and contains within it materials from the solid waste.

LITIER. Waste materials discarded improperly.

MASS BURN. Those materials which are burned in large amounts.

METHANE. A gas formed by the decomposition of organic waste, colorless, odor- less and flammable.

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MICROBE. Microscopic plants and animals that assist in organic waste decom- position.

ORGANIC. That which is derived from living things.

POLLUTE. To make impure, unhealthy or unsafe. To contaminate.

PRECYCLE. Those behaviors and choices made which incorporate waste reduc- tion into one’s daily purchasing and consumption habits.

RECYCLE. The collect the production of the same product or in the production of another product.

SALVAGE. Rescued

SANITARY LANDFILL. A place designated to hold solid waste, covered by soil daily.

SOLID WASTE. All solid and partially solid waste, including garbage, trash, and industrial, construction, and appliance refuse.

SOURCE SEPARATION. To divide the waste materials where they originate. Ex: Organics to a compost container, glass jar to a recycling bin.

TRASH. Dry waste material, not food sc

and reprocessing of manufactured goods for reuse in

perty. Materials that can be saved for reuse.

(garbage) or ash.

APPENDIX

Landfill Letter

Date

Dear Landfill Official:

School is studying local and Our national solid waste management issues. In our efforts to better understand these issues, we would like to visit our local landfill to see the process of a land- filling operation.

We would like to schedule a field trip on from to ---------- . We will call to confirm and make further ar-

rangements.

We are enclosing a copy of the trip pack questions the students are to focus on during their visit, If you have any suggestions, we can be contacted

grade class at -

---------

at - Thank you for your time and consideration in this matter.

Sincerely,

Teacher's Name School

Landfill Observation and Recording NAME

Sanitary Landfill Observation and Recording

1. How does the scale operate?

2. Does this landfill require a tipping fee?

DATE

3. What kind of trucks get weighed here?

4. When is the landfill open?

5. If you wanted to salvage some bicycle parts could you come to the landfill to do it?

6. What are white goods?

7. Look at the white goods pile. Name three things in that pile you are familiar with. 1. 2. 3.

8. Can you name anything from the white goods pile that either you or your family have ever thrown "away"?

9. What is the working face?

10. The slope helps rain water to run off the landfill and away from it quickly rather than being held in the soil with all the solid waste. Why is this important?

11. What impressed you most about the landfill?

12. What suprised you most about the landfill?

Garbology Worksheet

1. Total weight of your trash

2. Weight of recyclables

Organic Newspaper Mixed paper Aluminum Glass

3. Weight of plastics

Estimated volume of plastics

4. List HazardoWhard to recycle products

5. Grouped total weight of recyclables

6. Grouped total weight of recyclables without organics .

Bibliography

PRINT

Aluminum Association, Inc. ALUMINUM RECYCLING: YOUR NEXT ASSIGNMENT. Washington, DC. 1989.

Bonhotal, Jean F. RECYCLING: MINING RESOURCES FROM TRASH. 4-H Leader’s/Teacher’s Guide. Ithaca, Ny: Cornel1 University. Waste Management Institute. August, 1990.

Connett, Dr. Paul. WASTE MANAGEMENT AS IF THE FUTURE MATTERED. Canton, Ny: Work on Waste, U.S.A.; No. 16. June 1989.

Eau Claire Area School District. COMMITTEE TO STUDY THE USE OF STYROFOAM: FINAL REPORT TO THE BOARD OF EDUCATION. Madison, WI: State of Wisconsin/Department of Natural Resources. May, 1989.

Environmental Action Foundation. RECYCLING. Washington, DC: The Solid Waste Alternatives Project. 1990.

New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection. HERE TODAY, HERE TOMORROW - REVISITED. Trenton, NJ: NJDEP Division of Solid Waste. 1989.

New York State Department of Environmental Conservation. RECYCLING: A PLANNING GUIDE FOR COMMUNITIES. Albany, Ny: Teacher Training Institute. January, 1990.

Romalewsky, Steve. Plague by Packaging. New York: NYPIRG, 1989.

Uphoff, Kurt. COMPREHENSIVE WASTE STREAM ANALYSIS. Chapel Hill, NC: Orange Recycling Services, Inc. November, 1990.

U.S. Congress, Office of Technology Assessment. FACING AMERICA’S

Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office. October,1989. TRASH: WHAT NEXT FOR MUNICIPAL SOLID WASTE. OTA-0-424.

VIDEO

Aluminum Association, Inc. ALUMINUM RECYCLING: YOUR NEXT ASSIGNMENT. Washington, DC: 1989.

Amoco Foam Products Company. POLYSTYRENE RECYCLES: DO IT TODAY FOR TOMORROW. Atlanta, GA: 1989.

Children's Television Workshop. THE ROTTEN TRUTH. New York, NY: 1989.

Connett, Dr. Paul. WASTE MANAGEMENT AS IF THE FUTURE MATTERED. Canton, Ny: 1989.

Educational Video Center. TRASH THY NEIGHBOR. New York, NY: 1989. (A copy of the program and other student productions may be obtained by con- tacting the Educational Video C\enter, 60 East 13th Street, New York, NY 10003 (212) 254-2848.)

Hackensack Meadowlands Development Commission. THE GARBAGE CRI- SIS: "WHAT DO WE DO WITH IT ALL?". Lyndhurst, NJ: 1990.

National Association for Plastic Container Recovery. NAPCOR -- PET RECYCLING: THE MODEL SOLUTION. Washington, DC: 1989.

North Carolina Center for Public Television. DOWN IN THE DUMPS. Research Triangle Park, NC: University of North Carolina. 1989.

Oak Meadow School Students. WE CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE. Oakland, CA: The Video Project. 1989.

Steel Can Recycling Institute. STEEL CANS AND CURBSIDE RECYCLING: A NATURAL PARTNERSHIP. Pittsburg, PA: 1988.

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U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Mines. WEALTH OUT OF WASTE. Washington, DC: 1987.

Waste Management Institute. LIFE AFTER THE CURB: RECYCLING PROCESSES. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Center for Environmental Re- search. Pittsburg, PA: 1989.

Suggested Curriculum Materials

1. A-Way with Waste: A Waste Management Curriculum for Schools Washington State Department of Ecology 4350 150th Avenue N.E. Redmond, Washington 98052-5301 Att : Jan Lingenfelter, School Program Coordinator

Mini-Landfill pgs. 36-38. Compost with Worms pgs. 197,199,201,203

2. California Solid Waste Management Board Environmental Education Program Trash Monster and the Wizard of Waste 1020 9th Street, Suite 300 Sacramento, California 95814 Att: Michele M. Lawrence, Staff Services Analyst

(206) 855-1900

(916) 322-2684

3. City of Seattle and Seattle Tilth Community Composting Education Program 710 2nd Avenue Seattle, Washington 981 04 Att: City's Waste Reduction Manager (206) 625-2040

4. 4th R Curriculum San Francisco Recycling Program Room 271, City Hall San Francisco, California 941 02 Att: Michele Roest, Educational Coordinator (415) 661 -6479

5. Oscar's Options Department of Environmental Management State of &ode Island 9 Hayes Street Providence, &ode Island 02908 Att: Carol Bell (401) 277-6800

6. Albert and Vivian Schatz, Teaching Science with Garbage. Rodale Press, Inc., Emmaus, Penna. 1971 page 22

7. Waste: A’Hidden Resource Keep America Beautiful, Inc. Curriculum 9 West Broad Street Stamford, Connecticut 06902

8. Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources Bureaus of Solid Waste and Information & Education P.O. Box 7921 Madison, Wisconsin 53707 Att: Joel Stone

Nature’s Recyclers Activity Guide page 11. (608) 249-0737

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