GREEN NINJA
TEACHER SUPPORT MATERIALS
NAME OF GREEN NINJA VIDEO: Yogurt Man
MAIN TOPIC OF VIDEO: Consumer Packaging Waste
Click HERE to watch this episode! (Link)
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
Frame:
1. What are some products that you use every day that generate trash as you use
them?
2. Why do grocery stores sell single units of a product?
3. What are some examples of single use products that you’ve seen?
4. How many trash bags does your family throw away each week?
Focus:
1. Describe the lifestyle of yogurt man before he meets the green ninja. (what does
he eat, what’s in his apartment, how much trash does he create, does he recycle)
2. What are the first lifestyle changes that yogurt man makes after first meeting the
green ninja?
3. What is the set of changes Yogurt Man makes after encountering the Green Ninja
for a second time?
4. After they meet a third time, what life changes does the Yogurt Man make and/or
experience?
5. What skill does Yogurt Woman introduce to Yogurt Man?
Follow-up:
1. Create your own superhero—how can you reduce the packaging and waste that
you generate? Pick one way and design your superhero logo.
2. Take an inventory of your school lunch—what waste are you generating and how
can you reduce that amount?
3. What other lifestyle changes can you take to help the environment?
ANSWERS TO DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
Frame:
1. Answers will vary depending on student experience. Ask students to think of their
lunches—plastic bags for sandwiches, yogurt containers, juice boxes, single use
water bottles, granola bar wrappers, etc. Then ask them to think of their family—
packaging for microwavable dinners, packaging for fruits and vegetables, bags and
Styrofoam containers for take-out food.
2. Single-use products are marketed for consumer convenience.
GREEN NINJA
TEACHER SUPPORT MATERIALS
3. Some examples might include individual packages of carrots or apples, singleserving containers of peanut butter/caramel/dressing for dipping, individually
wrapped granola bars, snack packs of goldfish, small bags of potato chips, fruit
roll-ups, and many more.
4. Answers will vary. From the Duke Center for Sustainability and Commerce: The
average person generates 4.3 pounds of waste per day. This is 1.6 pounds more
than most produced back in 1960.
Focus:
1. Before he meets the green ninja, yogurt man buys many individual containers of
yogurt at the grocery store, has only posters of his love for yogurt on his walls,
accumulates a lot of waste, and does not recycle
2. He recycles his plastic containers, adds posters of the green ninja to his apartment,
dresses as the Yogurt Man, replaces his waste bin with a recycling bin, has written
recycle on his calendar, but he still eats individual containers of yogurt.
3. He brings his own shopping bag to the store, he has written reuse on his calendar,
there are now plants in his apartment, he is using his yogurt containers to make
recycled art, and he no longer has plastic trash bags.
GREEN NINJA
TEACHER SUPPORT MATERIALS
4. He buys a large container of yogurt rather than individual containers, he has written
reduce on his calendar (in addition to reuse and recycle), he meets another yogurt
superhero (Yogurt Woman) and he has no waste in the end.
5. Yogurt Woman makes homemade yogurt by adding milk and a little yogurt to
reusable glass containers and applying heat.
Follow-up:
1. Answers will vary. Some examples might be Chips Woman, who vows to only buy
chips in large bags, rather than small bags, or possibly the carrot avenger, who only
buys carrots in bulk and carries them to school in reusable bags.
2. Answers will vary. Students might ask their parents to buy foods in bulk and use
reusable containers made out of plastic, glass or fabric. They might start to use a
reusable water bottle.
3. Answers will vary. Some ideas might include taking shorter showers, turning off
lights when you leave a room, walking or riding your bike, carpooling, recycling,
turning down the heat at bedtime and others.
ADDITIONAL TOPICS AND LEARNING EXPERIENCES
Have students do a packaging analysis. Ask them to bring in one unopened package from
home to share and analyze with the class for function, aesthetics and necessity. A full
write-up of this type of lesson can be found here.
Have the class make their own yogurt in class (or at home). Here is a sample recipe that
came from this website.
Ingredients: 8 cups milk (any kind), 1/2 cup store-bought natural, live/active culture plain
yogurt, 0.50 ounces- 0.75 ounces plain gelatin (or three small packets)
Step 1: Plug in your crock pot and turn to low. Add milk, cover and cook on low for 2
1/2 hours.
Step 2: Unplug your crock pot. Leave the cover on, and let it sit for 3 hours.
Step 3: Scoop out 2 cups of the milk and whisk in the gelatin and stir until the gelatin is
dissolved. Whisk in the store-bought yogurt. Dump the bowl contents back into the
crock pot. Stir to combine. Put the lid back on your crock pot. Keep it unplugged, and
wrap a heavy towel all the way around the crock for insulation. Let it sit for 8 hours. In
the morning the yogurt will have thickened.
GREEN NINJA
TEACHER SUPPORT MATERIALS
Ask students to do a quantitative analysis by comparing the mass difference between the
trash that is generated by eating one 32 ounce container vs. that of eight single-serving 4
ounce containers.
Ask students to create a reusable sandwich bag for their school lunch (this can be made
with fabric and fabric glue). These items are available at most hobby stores and many
tutorials such as this one can be found online, ranging from simple to requiring a sewing
machine.
Ask students to track their trash over the course of one week by maintaining a trash diary
that is completed daily. After one week, have groups brainstorm ways to reduce waste
output and develop a plan to implement with their families. Once the plan has been
implemented for two weeks, ask students to again complete a trash diary and assess the
differences between waste output pre- and post- plan implementation. A nice example of
a unit lesson plan on waste reduction, including a student handout, can be found here. (It’s
called Slash Trash from thegreenteam.org).
Facilitate an art project from used yogurt containers or other packaging materials. Have
students create Christmas ornaments, household decorations or useful items for their
families (such as a pencil holder).
ADDITIONAL NOTES AND RESOURCES
All of the Preserve Products are made from recycled plastic, some of them specifically
from yogurt containers!
GREEN NINJA
TEACHER SUPPORT MATERIALS
Stonyfield yogurt is an example of a yogurt company that made a conscious decision to
reduce the amount of plastic in their cups by switching from #2 to #5 plastic (a lighter
plastic). This decision has resulted in the reduction of plastic use by the company by
hundreds of tons of plastic per year. Not only is this less plastic and waste, but it also
translates into fewer CO2 emissions from the shipping of this lighter product (fewer tons
are shipped).
Credit: This teacher resource has been adapted from content originally developed by
Lee Pruett.