Waste – Early Elementary
1. Who picks up the waste and recyclables that people leave at the curb?
A. refuse haulers
B. volunteer coordinators
C. recycling coordinators
2. Who organizes events for picking up litter?
A. volunteer coordinators
B. recycling coordinators
C. repair persons
3. Who organizes recycling for towns and cities?
A. recycling coordinators
B. repair persons
C. refuse haulers
4. Who fixes things that are broken so they can be used again instead of being thrown away?
A. repair persons
B. refuse haulers
C. volunteer coordinators
5. Which thing in a kitchen garbage can could be composted?
A. potato peels
B. a plastic wrapper
C. a broken cup
6. What does it mean to let leftover organic matter rot or decompose?
A. to compost
B. to recycle
C. to reuse
7. Which things can be composted?
A. leaves and apple cores
B. cans and bottles
C. baseballs and story books
Correct Answer - A
Waste – Early Elementary
8. Which word means something that is living or comes from living things?
A. organic
B. metal
C. rocks
9. Which group of things is organic?
A. banana peels, egg shells, plants
B. sand, gravel, rocks
C. plastic bottles, glass bottles, cans
10. What is needed for composting to work well?
A. a warm spot
B. a cold spot
C. a dry spot
11. What happens to things in a garbage can if they are not recycled, reused or composted?
A. they go to a landfill
B. they are made into art
C. they are cleaned and reused
12. What do you call waste that people throw or accidentally drop on the ground?
A. litter
B. recyclables
C. seeds
13. Where does litter go if no one picks it up?
A. rain washes it into the nearest stream
B. it stays where it is dropped
C. it decomposes and disappears
14. Which things will decompose in less than six months if left outside?
A. food or leaves
B. cans or bottles
C. cigarette butts
Correct Answer - A
Waste – Early Elementary
15. What is the most littered item in the world (by number)?
A. cigarette butts
B. drink cups
C. banana peels
16. What happens during a litter cleanup?
A. volunteers join together to pick up litter
B. a business hires someone to pick up litter
C. a rainstorm washes all the litter into a river
17. What is a material that is hard, shiny and bendable?
A. metal
B. plastic
C. paper
18. What is a material that can be molded into different shapes?
A. plastic
B. rocks
C. paper
19. What is a material that is hard, brittle and often transparent?
A. glass
B. metal
C. paper
20. What is a material made from fibers of plants that are pressed together?
A. paper
B. metal
C. glass
21. Which words mean the same thing?
A. waste, garbage, trash, refuse
B. chair, flower, sunlight, purple
C. table, orange, cloud, eagle
Correct Answer - A
Waste – Early Elementary
22. Which things might you find in a kitchen garbage can?
A. an empty cereal box or a potato peel
B. an empty shampoo bottle or a broken comb
C. a broken crayon or torn paper
23. Which things might you find in a school waste can?
A. a broken crayon or torn paper
B. an empty cereal box or a potato peel
C. an empty shampoo bottle or a broken comb
24. Each person makes about 5 lbs of waste each day. How much waste would 2 people make each day?
A. 10 lbs
B. 5 lbs
C. 2 lbs
25. If a person makes 5 lbs of waste each day, and then recycles 2 lbs, how many pounds go to the landfill?
A. 3 lbs
B. 5 lbs
C. 7 lbs
26. What does it mean to make new, but similar things from things that are thrown away
A. to recycle
B. to reduce
C. to reuse
27. Which thing in a kitchen garbage can could be recycled?
A. an empty cereal box
B. tennis shoes
C. potato peels
28. Which thing in a school waste can could be recycled?
A. torn paper
B. used kleenex
C. a plastic wrapper
Correct Answer - A
Waste – Early Elementary
29. Which things can be recycled?
A. cans, bottles, paper
B. potato peels, leaves, apple cores
C. tennis shoes, baseballs, story books
30. What does a symbol with 3 arrows bent into a triangle mean?
A. recycle
B. reuse
C. compost
31. What kind of metal is used for beverage cans?
A. aluminum
B. tin
C. steel
32. What kind of metal is used for food cans?
A. steel
B. aluminum
C. gold
33. What does it mean to use less of something for a job or assignment?
A. to reduce
B. to recycle
C. to reuse
34. What does it mean to use something more than once before throwing it away?
A. to reuse
B. to recycle
C. to reduce
35. Which things can be reused?
A. tennis shoes, baseballs, story books
B. cans, bottles, paper
C. potato peels, leaves, apple cores
Correct Answer - A