Through this investigation, students will examine their school’s waste stream, will collect and analyze data, and will brainstorm ideas for action projects. They will discover how much waste their school generates and where the waste goes. Then they will learn that reducing waste, reusing items, recycling, and composting saves natural resources, energy, and landfill space.
Students will see how individual and collective student actions can affect the waste stream. They will generate ideas for ways their school could make improvements, such as producing less waste, increasing recycling efforts, or composting cafeteria waste. Furthermore, practicing waste reduction and recycling can save your school money.
Download the Waste & Recycling Investigation or purchase a print copy of all 5 PLT GreenSchools Investigations plus the Adult Leader Guide.
Resources
- Download the Adult Leader Guide for tips on how to form a Green Team, suggestions for how students might conduct investigations and why, and ways to obtain grants for action projects.
- Find more resources to support this PLT GreenSchools Investigation
- View correlations to academic standards
- Try some other PLT activities to enrich and extend the learning on this topic.
Here’s a sample:- PreK-8 Envrionmental Education Activity Guide
- Activity #37, “Reduce, Reuse, Recycle”
- Activity #51, “Make Your Own Paper”
- PreK-8 Envrionmental Education Activity Guide
- PLT’s high school module
- Municipal Solid Waste
- Forests of the World: Activity #8, “Making Consumer Choices”
