3R’s ACTIVITY for counselors
Reduce-Reuse-Recycle- Sixth Grade
BACKGROUND:
(if the 6th gr ate lunch at RP in the previous grades they
should know about some of this OR from home)
Upper Dublin School District (Waste Management) and UD Township at your home
(Recycle Bank & Covanta-Trash to Steam -Energy) BOTH do the same type of Single
Stream Recycling (see the sheet provided). All recyclables on the list go into one
container and are sorted at the plant for meltdown. Although recycling gets easier &
easier, it does require energy to do & causes some pollution. So remember the best
thing we can do is Live Simply-USE LESS, REDUCE & REUSE or REPURPOSE MORE
to spare the over-flowing landfills, protect wildlife as well as it helping our wallets
too! Americans need to get rid the habit of using things ONE time & throwing it
away. See the sheet with items that are recyclable. They say we can recycle 2-3x as
much as we throw away in trash. Test it out.
Paper: Cardboard, magazines, junk mail, office paper, paper bags, newspaper,
phone books
Plastics: #1 though #7- Milk Cartons, Water Bottles, Yogurt cups, any plastic 1-7
in arrows. No Saran Wrap/Ziplock bags. Plastic bags are best returned to grocery
stores to be recycled in a closed system. Plastic/Trash accumulating in the Pacific
Ocean called the “Great Pacific Ocean Garbage Patch” = Use less plastics. This is a
petroleum(oil) based product that makes us more oil dependent in the world of
economics & politics. PLASTIC WATER BOTTLES: In 2008, out of 206 billion liters
of bottled water consumed globally(17 million barrels of oil used to make US bottles
alone), only 20% made it to the recycling centers. (US Recycle Institute)
Glass: a recycling company will melt it down and make new products. It requires
less energy to recycle then to utilize raw resources. Or, you can reuse bottles for
vases or storage.
Aluminum/Steel/Tin: Although they are different materials/natural
resources they are all recyclable- lids, foil, cans.
Yard Waste/Compost- At your house, put them in the green bin and put it
at the curb for pick up. The township uses a huge tube grinder to chop & compost
into mulch. Or, compost it in your backyard, as it breaks down with the help of
decomposers, to make new wonderful soil for next year you can spread it on your
garden. (They learn about this in 4th & 5th gr)
PRECYCLE: Be aware-look before you purchase. Buy in Bulk-large containers
not individually wrapped; buy recycled materials and that can be reused or recycled
again; the less packaging the better!
DONATE OLD toys, books, clothes, household items to charity IMPACT in
Montgomeryville, PURPLE HEART, HARVEST Books in Ft. Washington or Book Drive
at Springfield HS for Veterans ETC.
NO WASTE LUNCH is the concept of bringing your lunch in a reusable
box/bag; with reusable containers instead of Ziplocks – or reusing them at least;
using utensils & taking them home to wash & use again; filling a reusable bottle with
water or juice; use a cloth napkin to take home & wash; compost cores, peels, not
edible, biodegradable materials
3R’s ACTIVITY for counselors
1. FIND SURVEY on your CLIPBOARD:
Take the survey with the kids and discuss how we can REPURPOSE things instead of
overflowing the landfills.
2./3. JEOPARDY:
Run it like the TV show. You can be the host (see answer key) Run it that you can
ask each individual or they could have a partner or 2 teams. Let them pick the topic
& value & they can read it. See if they have an idea of the answer if not there are 3
multiple choice options-read them- then they can answer—wrong next
person/team goes, --correct they get the points & can go again. Discuss.
Keep track of the points on the sheet for a prize for the winner(s).
Flip flop activities with the “Trash to Treasure” activity.
3./2. TRASH to TREASURE:
NEED: the box of items in the center
TASK: To be engineers to create the newest & greatest invention that reuses
materials & does something good for the environment. The creations can be robots
that help dispose of trash, solar powered cars, buildings or machines ETC.
See if the kids can come up with their own ideas and help them stay on track.
Monitor that everyone is involved and on task.
4. When students are finished, FILL OUT THE SHEET: survey on the 1 side & on the
other side fill out the questions describing their creation. Have them bring their
“Treasure” & the sheet to the Pavilion for the teachers to read, admire and judge.