Welcome!
 Please read the board!
Eastern Garbage Patch
 Floats between Hawaii and
California
 Twice as big as Texas
 Can be 30 m deep
The Trouble with Plastics in the Oceans
 don’t biodegrade like other debris
 break down over time into smaller and smaller pieces while
still maintaining their chemical make-up
 As the pieces get smaller fish, mammals, birds and even
plankton will consume the pieces which are not digestible
 While the plastics may not be visible to the eye, studies have
shown that in some areas the concentration of plastics
outnumbers the concentration of plankton by a ratio of 7:1
Reduce
Reuse
Recycle
Houston’s recycling:
 National MSW disposal:
 Houston MSW disposal:
 54% Landfilled
 86% Landfilled
 34% Recycled
 14% Recycled
 12% Incinerated
 0% Incinerated
Houston’s “One Bin for All”
 ALL waste in one bin
 One truck instead of four (MSW, yard waste, recycling, heavy trash)
 Materials sorted in $100 million state of the art facility to be built by
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private company
Construction to begin next year
Could divert 75% of material from landfill (resold by private company)
Biomass (yard, food, clothing and plastics) converted into biofuels
First of its kind in the nation. Could set new standard.
Would include an incinerator.
Should the city move forward?
Those in favor
Those against
 Mayor and city sustainability
 Texas Campaign for the
coordinator
 Environmental Defense Fund
 Clinton Climate Initiative
 Keep Houston Beautiful
Environment calls the plan
“Anti-recycling” and “a pipe
dream”. Concern that the city
will end up having to pay for
the construction and that
technologies are unproven.
 Are we being “greenwashed”
or is this a step towards waste
= food/cradle to cradle/
sustainability?
What is the standard recycling practice?
Recycling in three easy steps
Collection
Reprocessing
Repurchasing
Collection
Curbside or
Drop off
Collection
How do you
increase
participation?
 Intrinsic motivation
 Education
 Extrinsic motivation
 Fines
 Bottle bills
 Cost differentials
 Bottle Bill Video and
Petition
 The Fun Theory--Bottle Bank
Arcade
Collection
Materials sent to a MRF
 Material Recovery Facility –
recyclables are sorted and
bundled then sent to
reprocesses
 Contamination lowers
quality of recyclables, lowers
sales price.
Reprocessing Paper
Reprocessing
Paper – fibers
shorten (losing
strength) with each
reprocess
Reprocessing
Aluminum and Glass –
can be recycled without
reducing quality
Recycling aluminum
saves 95% of energy
compared to virgin
materials
Recycling glass saves
50% of energy
Reprocessing
Plastic - #
indicates
polymer type
Reprocessing
 Yard waste – leaves, grass, small branches =
compost/mulch!
City of Houston
 As of April 5, 2010 NO yard waste can be put in trash
 Buy biodegradable bags at Walmart, Kroger, Randall’s
Lowe’s Homedepot; bags have city logo.
 $7.50/10 bags
 Two trucks come around on trash day, one for garbage,
one for compost.
 Noncompliance? No pick up
Repurchase
Complete the
loop!
Demand for
recycled materials
is critical to the
industry
Preconsumer
wastes - collected
from factories;
production wastes
Repurchase
Postconsumer –
collected at a
MRF
Check for understanding
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What do the three arrows in the recycling symbol stand for?
Describe the tradeoff between intrinsic and extrinsic motivation.
What are three benefits of recycling?
Of the three R’s, which is the best for the environment, and why?
What is the difference between renewable and recyclable?
Now what do you think?
 What parts of the standard
recycling system are going to
be dramatically changed?
 How might the new plan
If you had the
change recycling rates?
deciding vote on
whether to go
 How might the new plan
forward with this,
change citizens’ attitudes
what questions
about consumption?
One bin
for all!
would you need
answered?
Don’t confuse them!
 The Three R’s = the
hierarchy of waste
management
 Reduce
 Reuse
 Recycle
Now it’s YOUR turn!
 Collect your recycling for one week, then take a picture
of yourself recycling and post it on the HUB.
 Due by Friday March 27th.
 80 if you have curbside at home
 90 if you recycle paper at WHS or another school.
 100 if you recycle more than paper at a drop off station
 +20 pts if you post a picture of yourself REDUCING!!!!!
 Small token prize to top three creative pics 