Reduce, Reuse and Recycle
Week 9 and 10
From our Literacy work this week, we have learned what it means to REDUCE,
REUSE AND RECYCLE. Please would you remind yourself what each of those
mean and give an example. If you have forgotten, look back at the
comprehension in your Literacy homework. I have added some links to Youtube
videos. It is NOT compulsory to watch these, but if you can, it may benefit
learners who learn best through the sense of sight (Visual learners)
What do you think that this symbol means? Why are there three green
arrows?
Each arrow stands for: REDUCE, REUSE and RECYCLE. The green colour
stands for a healthy earth. This is a recycling symbol!
See if you can find this symbol on any objects in your house. If there’s an
object that has this symbol on it, it means that it can be recycled. That
object can be changed into something else and used again.
I found a recycling symbol on a plastic packet that I got from Clicks. It
says that the plastic was made by using recycled materials, which is
great, because it means that less waste was created.
If we want a healthy earth, we have to make as little waste as possible.
AND the more waste that can be recycled, the better.
Make a list or draw pictures of the objects that you found in your house with
the recycling symbol on them.
What can and cannot be recycled? https://youtu.be/6jQ7y_qQYUA
Can every object/material be recycled? Write down objects that you think can
be recycled and then read the information below.
Unfortunately, not all objects can be recycled
Some objects, like food doesn’t need to be recycled, because they do it
naturally. Think about what happens to an apple when you throw it on
some soil. Does it stay there forever? What happens to it?
It decomposes. What do you think that means? Decomposing means to
break up or rot. So, as the apple sits in the soil, it starts to rot and break
up.
The same is seen in the picture underneath. A seed of corn is in the
ground in the first picture, the plant grows, it gets old and starts to
decompose and then the seeds go back into the ground and more corn
grows. The same is seen with the sunflower
Therefore something old is
being turned into something
new and natural recycling is
happening. All natural
materials can be recycled in
their own way and do not need
humans to do it
Unnatural materials that can be recycled by humans are: glass, aluminium,
plastic and paper. Aluminium is the substance that they usually use to
make tins.
These materials are taken to a recycling plant. This is where rubbish is
recycled and turned into new objects! Glass, aluminium, plastic and paper
can be chopped into tiny bits, melted or turned into mush (soft and wet
material) and then used to make new things.
Look at the picture below to see what objects can be recycled into.
What four objects can you see in the first picture?
What four objects are they turned into below?
Can you think what else glass, paper, aluminium and plastic can be turned
into? Use your imagination and write them down or draw pictures.
What happens to our waste? https://youtu.be/CCS6iOG5G68
Our rubbish gets put into dustbins. A garbage truck will come and collect
all the black bags in an area. We should be grateful to these people for
taking our rubbish away as it must be a difficult job, because the rubbish
smells and it can be very messy. How can we make these people’s jobs
easier? Write down your ideas and suggest them to your family.
Remember to thank these people if you see them taking away your
rubbish.
Once they come to collect everybody’s rubbish, where do you think that it
is taken to?
Some of the rubbish goes into a big hole that’s outside of town.
When rubbish is in a big hole, it makes a really bad smell. This may be
horrible for the animals or humans who live near it.
The
rubbish can even
make animals or
humans very sick.
Rubbish can start
to decompose
(break down and
rot) into the soil
around it.
Chemicals and
harmful substances can leak from the rubbish into the soil and water.
This means that any plant growing in that soil or any water in the area
may be dangerous to eat and drink.
It may take years before the rubbish decomposes and disappears.
Unnatural materials take A LOT longer than natural materials to
decompose. This is why it is better to rather use natural products than
unnatural. Examples of natural materials are wood, soil and clay. Unnatural
materials are made by people by adding different materials together to
make a new material such as plastic, glass and rubber.
Can you think of an example where we should use a natural material over
an unnatural one? Eg: wooden desks rather than plastic ones.
Did you know that some plastics take over 500 years to decompose?
That means that you may use a plastic bottle today and your great, great,
great, great grandchild may still see it lying in a rubbish dump in the year
2520. That’s scary hey!?
What do you think that we can do to improve this? Make a list of your
ideas and brainstorm.
Some of the rubbish goes into a furnace (a really big fire) and the
rubbish gets burned. This makes a lot of black smoke go into the sky and
it stinks.
Have you even seen or smelled this before? Where? How did it make you
feel?
This smoke makes it difficult for birds as they cannot see where they are
flying and sometimes the smoke makes them choke.
Some of this smoke may also
affect humans as they
struggle to breathe properly.
In many places in the world
people already wore masks
before corona-virus, because
the air was not clean enough
for them to breathe without
them.
This smoke from burning rubbish can even affect the rain fall. Often
when there is a lot of air pollution there won’t be enough rain. This is a
big problem for farmers as they need the rain for their crops to grow and
so that there will be enough food for everyone.
What do you think can be done to improve this?
Make a list of your ideas. Start a conversation with your family about this
and ask them what they think.
Some of the rubbish also gets put into the ocean. Animals think that the
plastic is food. This is horrible, because plastic can suffocate them. When
something suffocates, it means that it is not able to breathe. The rubbish
may look like food that the animals normally eat.
Many sea turtles, fish and sharks die from this every day.
Look at the picture below. That is a boat in water surrounded by rubbish.
How does it make you feel? What do you think that we can do about it? Is
this what should be happening in the world?
Why is recycling so important?
Look back at all the ways that waste damages the world and then come up with
your own reasons why you think that recycling is important.
When objects can be taken to a recycling plant there will be no stinky
hole in the ground that makes people or animals sick.
When objects can be recycled, no more black smoke will choke animals
and people as it pollutes the air.
No animals will choke on plastic that has been dumped into the oceans.
Recycling is a wonderful way of making less waste in the world and
saving the planet. It will help to save humans, animals and
plants.
It will help us all to live happier and healthier lives.
How can we reduce, reuse and recycle at home
and at school?
Write down your ideas and speak to your family about how you can recycle. You
can also ask them for their ideas, chat to a friend about it over the phone or
use the internet to come up with ideas. Here are some ideas that I found. Write
down this list, put a tick next to all the ways of recycling that you already do, a
cross next to the ones that you don’t do and won’t be able to do and a question
mark next to the ones that you want to try. Sometimes we can’t recycle in every
way, but we can all recycle in some way! Think about HOW these activities can
help to reduce, reuse and recycle and how they can help save the planet and us.
Reuse items in your house to make arts and crafts
(we have been doing this for lockdown art so give
it a tick)
Take bags with you to the shops rather than
buying new plastic bags and making more waste
Buy clothes from a second hand store or use
clothes from an older sister/family member
Give away your old/small clothes instead of
throwing them away.
This jersey is from my grandpa who passed
away. It doesn’t fit me perfectly, but it’s
warm and very special to me, because he wore
it.
Put food waste into a garden instead of into the dustbin. This will also
help the plants around it to grow better
Turn off the lights when you leave a room
Turn off the tap when you are brushing your teeth until you need it to
clean your toothbrush and mouth
Make sure that taps are turned off properly when you are finished using
them
Don’t shower for a long time or fill a bath all the way up to the top as
this is wasting water. You can set a timer so that you know how long you
shower for
You can use the water from the bath to do something else like wash the
car/water the garden
You can shower with a
bucket so that water can be
collected and used instead
of just throwing it away
Try and buy products that have the recycling symbol on it
Use both sides of a paper where you can
REDUCE, REUSE AND RECYCLE