(1) Natural resources = anything made
in nature or from nature. (Air, water,
plants, trees, animals, minerals, fossil
fuels)
Waste is any material thrown away.
Most ends up in landfills.
Some gets dumped or is litter.
Each person creates 3-5 pounds of
waste each day!
Not throwing away products made from
natural resources conserves those
resources.
(2) Reducing = creating less waste
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Problems with waste:
Landfills may pollute
Landfills take up space
Landfills will run out of space
Examples: bag lunch, don’t use plastic
bags, little packaging, reuse items like
clothes, buy and use less stuff.
(3) Reusing = find another use for
objects; don’t throw out stuff.
*This helps because less stuff ends up
taking up space in landfills, use less
resources.
Examples: rewash items, donate
clothes, toys, books.
(4) Recycling = breaking materials back
down to raw materials and then making
into new materials.
*helps because it reduces waste, use
less new resources.
*Examples: cans, paper, plastic, & glass,
and metal.
Waste Management Notes
1) Most of the products used in the United
States are made from natural resources like
wood, oil (used to make anything plastic),
glass, and water. Many of those products that
come from natural resources become waste
when we are through with them. Waste
comes from homes, schools, businesses,
factories, and other places. In the United
States, we generate over 160 million tons of
waste each year. That equals 3-5 pounds per
person, per day. Waste management takes
several forms, including, reducing waste,
reusing, and recycling.
(2) Reducing waste means creating less
waste in the first place. By doing this, less
garbage goes into the landfills. Some of the
problems with landfills include is that they
can sometimes pollute the soil and
groundwater. Landfills cannot be developed
for housing or farms after they are filled up.
Also as landfills fill up that means new ones
must be created. Some ways of reducing
waste include: carrying your lunch in a
reusable bag, use a glass instead of a paper
cup, pick products with little packaging, by
products in bottles you can refill, and store
left over food in reusable containers instead
of foil or plastic wrap.
(3) Reusing means finding another use for an
object rather then throwing it away. By using
things more then once, you can cut down on
how much goes in to the garbage. Reusing
also helps save resources that come out of
the earth to make new products. Some
examples of reusing include: wash and reuse
plastic sandwich bags, trade, sell, or give
away old clothes, toys, and books; and turn
old cans into pencil holders or planters.
(4) Recycling is taking the raw materials from
already used items (cans, paper, foil, glass,
and cardboard) and making it into something
else. Recycling reduces the amount of solid
waste. It also saves energy needed to get
and process new raw materials from our
natural resources.