Format: presentation and relay-race game

Length: 50–60 minutes

Requirements: space for relay, computer and projector

Recommended companion lessons/activities: Waste Audit, Compost and Decomposers, Natural Resources, Plastics in the Water, West Van Tour

Topics/subjects: “Reduce, Reuse, Recycle,” environmental impacts of waste 

Summary: Our society continually produces waste; some of it needs to be disposed of as garbage, while some of it can be recycled or composted. After this lesson and activity, students will understand how waste never “goes away” and has impacts on our environment before, during, and after disposal. The system used locally for sorting the recyclables dictates which items can be recycled. Students will also understand the scale of the massive amounts of fuel, electricity, people-power, and time required for proper waste disposal, including the landfilling of garbage, sort system for recyclables, and commercial composting. Students will also learn about the impacts of improper recycling on the safety of solid waste workers. They will feel empowered to make choices to reduce their impact by reducing waste and recycling right. For the activity portion, students will practice what they learned by working together and racing to sort items into correct disposal categories (reuse, recycle/compost, and garbage). The categories are distanced from the “start” line based on how good (or not) these disposal methods are for humans and for the Earth. Running the relay twice gives students a hands-on opportunity to show what they have learned and to find and correct their own errors.  

CCSS, NGSS alignment guide