Let's Talk Garbage Pollution

What To Do

Introduction

Discuss with the educator beforehand to assess participants’ prior knowledge and adjust the introduction accordingly.

Today we are going to be talking about a big problem we have – we have too much garbage!

Ask the following questions:

• Does anyone know where garbage goes when it leaves our houses or school?
• What happens at the landfill?
• Are landfills good or bad for the environment? [slide 4]
• How long do you think it takes for the waste to degrade, or break down, in a landfill?
• Does anyone know what greenhouse gases are? [slide 6]

Greenhouse gases are types of gases that form a layer around the Earth and trap heat from the sun, kind of like a blanket. They play a role in maintaining the earth’s temperature. However, human activity (such as burning fossil fuels and landfills) are adding too many greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. This is causing the planet to warm up faster than it should, resulting in climate change.

Climate change refers to changes that are happening to the temperature outside, the amount of precipitation (rain) areas are receiving and overall changes to the weather.

• What do you think would happen if the world got warmer?

Animals and plants may struggle to adapt to the changes in their environment and homes.

• What happens to the garbage that doesn’t make it to landfills? [slide 7]

Ocean currents can move garbage pollution all over the world. For example, a plastic bottle that enters the ocean in Canada can end up on a beach in another country or continent! [slide 8]

Some of the garbage accumulates in the ocean in giant “patches” due to ocean currents. There are 5 areas in the ocean that have garbage patches. Here is a picture of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, which is located in the Pacific Ocean. [slide 9]

• Are we the only ones that are affected by our garbage? [slide 10].

Take out the animals toys and ask participants to share how they think plastic pollution can affect each animal or display the following slides.

• • Sea Turtles [slide 11]
  • Sea Birds [slide 12]
  • Seals [slide 13]
  • Whales [slide 14]
  • Fish [slide 15]
  • Raccoon [slide 16]

Next, we are going to talk about different things we can do with our waste to protect wildlife from pollution and our planet from climate change. [slide 17]

Activity 1: Throw Away, Reuse, Reduce, Recycle,

Compost?

Pre-Activity Prep

• Local recycling and composting programs vary by location. Before going into the classroom, ensure that you have an understanding on what is available in the community. It is okay to mention how things are done differently in other places, but it is important to discuss how they can reduce waste in the context of their own community. Make adjustments to the activity as necessary.
• Ensure that all recycled items are thoroughly washed and sanitized before bringing them into the classroom.

What to do:

• Have participants sit in a circle and place the five bins labelled “Compost”, “Recycle”, “Reuse”, “Reduce” and “Throw Away” in the middle. Alternatively, they can stay in their seat and place the four bins on a table at the front of the room.
• Ask participants what each label means before starting the activity.
• Hold up each item/picture of an item and let the group decide which bin it should go in.
• Once all the items have been sorted, gather the items from each bin and allow participants to analyze the contents. Is there anything that stands out?
• Give participants time to move the items to a different bin if they think it is in the wrong one. The whole group should agree before an item is moved to a different category.
• Optional: hold up a few items from the “Reuse” bin and ask the group how they would reuse it.

Optional extensions

There are many steps we can take to prevent sending items to the landfill! Recycling, Reducing and Reusing are methods of waste management and are parts of the 6 R’s of Sustainability.

• Has anyone heard of the word ‘Sustainability’ before? If so, what does it mean?

Sustainability is about having a healthy relationship with the planet, by making small changes that ensure that resources are available for future generations. These are principals that help guide us in making better choices for the world.

• Hold up the labels of the following terms while you discuss what each term means.
  • Refuse
  • Repair
  • Reimagine/ Rethink

Activity 2: Build a Robot to Clean-Up the Planet

We need your help! Your group has been tasked to design a team of robots that will help clean-up garbage pollution. Each robot will have 2-3 special powers that it will use to clean up and dispose the garbage. After designing, your team will build a prototype of your robot out of recycled materials. [slide 19]

• Separate participants into groups of 2 or 3 and give each group a design worksheet.
• Place all the recyclables on a table at the front of the room, or create building kits for each group so that they know what type of materials they have to build their robot.
• As the groups work on their design, ask them the following questions to help them figure out how their robot will work [slide 21]:
  • Will your robot clean up garbage on land or in the ocean?
  • What type of garbage will your robot clean up (plastic bottles, food scraps, glass, toys, etc.)?
  • How will your robot store the garbage?
  • What will your robot do with the garbage at the end of the clean-up?
  • Once the participants are ready, they can start building a prototype/model of their robot out of the recyclable materials.
  • Have each group present their robot to the group. What special powers does their robot have? How does their robot help the planet?

Wrap-Up

Note: The topics discussed in today’s workshop can be overwhelming. It is highly suggested that enough time is devoted to the wrap-up discussion so that they are aware of current solutions to the issues addressed today.

• We talked a lot about the impact that landfills have on the environment and how garbage pollution affects wildlife. Does anyone remember what effect landfills have on the environment? [slide 23]
• What else can we do with the waste that we produce?

The good news is that there are many people working on solutions to help clean-up the planet from pollution. Let’s explore some ways of cleaning up garbage pollution! [slide 24]

• Show a picture of a Highway Clean-Up. [slide 25]
• Show a picture of a Beach Clean-Up. [slide 26]

It’s not just people helping to clean the planet- robots are helping too! [slide 27]

• Show a picture of Fred, the floating robot by Clear Blue Sea. [slide 28]
• Show a picture of Beachbot, a Dutch robot from Project BB. [slide 29]
• Show a picture of Mr. Trash Wheel, one member of a family of robots from the Waterfront Partnership of Baltimore, Healthy Harbor and Clearwater Mills. [slide 30]

What are some ways you can help clean up garbage pollution? [slide 31]

• Note: It is important to be conscious of your audience and consider that not all youth have the same options available to choose (i.e. rural students may not have access to public transit, food availability and choices are not always equal). Allow youth to come up with their own ideas instead of directing them on what to do.

Discuss possible careers related to the topics discussed in today’s workshop and what students will need (schooling, experience, etc.) to get into those careers. [slide 34-35]