BU-06064     Reviewed 2005

To Order

Where is Away?

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Experience:

1. Begin the activity with a few questions:
   • What have you thrown away today?
   • Where did you throw it away?
   • What happens to waste after it leaves your house?
   • After it leaves your school?
   
   
   
2. Place the trash can on a table or desk. (You may want to empty the waste on the floor to get a good look).
   
   
3. Ask: What happens once trash is placed at the curb? (Answer: collection and hauling).
   
   
4. Take some of the trash from the can and place it on the truck or wagon.
   
   
5. Ask: Where does the truck go? (Answer: Several places may be correct, depending upon the community; one stop may be a "transfer station" where the waste is transferred from smaller collection trucks to a larger truck.) Why would ommunities do this? (It is cheaper and requires fewer people).
   
   
6. Put some of the waste in a box and label it "transfer station."
   
   
7. Ask: Where else might the truck go? (Answer: a Materials Recovery Facility (MRF), or Recycling Center, where materials are separated for recycling. After sorting, they are put into larger trucks to be taken to a buyer.)
   
   
8. Put some waste from the truck into another box labeled "MRF" or "Recycling Center."
   
   
9. Where else might waste go? And where does waste from the transfer station go? (Answer: a landfill, compost facility or incinerator). Put the remaining waste from the truck into boxes labeled with these words.
   
   
10. Waste management is very expensive. What could lower its cost? (Answer: produce less waste). How do we do this? (Answer: reduce and reuse).
    
    
11. When we reduce, we avoid purchasing materials that will generate waste. Put the word "reduction" on a notecard, and tape it on a wall. Give examples of reduction (see guide Introduction section for ideas).
    
    
12. When we reuse an item, we eliminate the need to purchase another item. But eventually, the item will be thrown away. Put the word "reuse" on a notecard, and tape it on the wall next to "reduction." Place an arrow as shown in the illustration. Give examples of reuse.
    
    
13. At some point, the items we purchase are no longer wanted. What do we do with them? (Answer: We dispose of them). Put an arrow across from "reuse" and next to the arrow put a notecard with the word "disposal" written on it.
    
    
14. What are the options for disposal of used items? (Answers: recycling, composting, and incinerating). Write these three words on separate notecards, and place them in a line on the wall next to "disposal," with arrows pointing to each.
    
    
15. Some things cannot be burned, composted, or recycled, so waste is generated when we do these processes. What do we do with all this waste? (Answer: landfill). Put arrows from each of the three options pointing toward a notecard with the word "landfill" written on it.
    
    
16. We should make decisions about waste in this order: (1) reduce, (2) reuse, (3) recycle, (4) compost, (5) incinerate, (6) landfill.

Reflection:

1. Where does waste go after it leaves your home? If you recycle, where do your recyclables go?
   
   
2. Were you surprised to learn how many steps garbage must go through before it is thrown away?
   
   
3. What do you most often do with your garbage? Do you reduce, reuse, and finally dispose of it, or does most of your waste go to a landfill?

Taking action:

At home

Put the diagram for disposal options on your refrigerator. Consult the diagram before you throw anything out. Can you think of ways you could reduce, reuse, or recycle a piece of garbage? Was there a better product or package choice that would have allowed you to reduce, reuse, or recycle it?

With our group

Discuss ways that you could reduce, reuse, or recycle your group's garbage (see suggestions in the Action section of the guide). Implement those ideas.

In our community

Write letters to your local garbage haulers and recycling companies. Find out where your garbage goes. Set up a tour of your local MRF, recycling center, or transfer station.

Adapted with permission from: "Waste Wise: Concepts in Waste Management," The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio.

Working on Waste: 4-H Efforts in Swift County, MN

"If you educate children, they in turn will educate their parents." Randee Hokanson, Swift County 4-H Agent.

Swift County has been actively educating its communities on waste issues for more than five years, and 4-H clubs have played a big role. "Wastebusters," teams of adults and youth volunteers, have presented week long educational programs on the 3 Rs to children in grades K–12. They also produced a 12-minute video to educate county residents on how to sort their waste for collection. The video starred a 4-H youth Wastebuster.

4-H clubs also have sponsored paint swaps to collect unused paint and redistribute it to individuals, school drama departments, etc. They have distributed more than 2,000 recycling bins to area residents, developed waste education brochures, and sponsored newspaper recycling drives.

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