Resources for Waste Education and Reduction
Kara Matteis and Erin Maravilla
The increasing world population alongside production and consumption of disposable material items has created a capacity issue for waste storage. Unfortunately, our bustling lifestyle coupled with the desire for food and products to be immediate and disposal has created excess waste. Many landfills in our country have closed due to overfill and finding new places to store our waste becomes an issue. Communities do not want waste in their ‘backyard’, nor do they want to think about it when they are throwing away their plastic bottles everyday.
The role that plastic plays within this framework is disheartening, but important to acknowledge in order to institute change. Acknowledging the lack of necessity for plastic bottle products and focusing on reusable bottles, containers or materials is the first step to changing our country’s relation to waste.
Videos:
Atlas Films (2009) Tapped
This documentary examines the effects the bottled water industry has upon human health, climate change, pollution and natural resources. The movie also delves into how plastic water bottles are related to our oil dependence and delves into the social injustices of extracting natural resources.
State of Thirst: California’s Water Future
This video is a great resource for educators to inform themselves or to share with their classrooms. This film documents California’s water situation and the scarcity of water. This would be a great tool for teaching why the plastic water bottle industry is wasteful in terms of marketing a natural resource.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=panaJZaffYk&feature=relmfu
21st Century Rainfall
This video provides a visualization for how many water bottles are thrown out with common trash as opposed to recycled. The imagery is shocking and will be a useful tool for students to realize their collective decision making when they dispose of recyclable items.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OZbTXDkrD1o
Story of Stuff: Plastic Water Bottle
This short film was produced by the Story of Stuff Project, which focuses on our consumption habits and the ill fate of our environment due to this consumption. The project’s ‘Bottled Water’ short film gives a brief explanation of the issues surrounding the plastic water bottle industry. There are social and environmental injustices at play and we have only begun to see the effects of our ‘bottled water habit’. This film challenges people to make the right decision when it comes to choosing to purchase or consumer water in plastic bottles. It could be a great video to expose middle school or high school students to the reality of the plastic water bottle industry.
http://storyofstuff.org/bottledwater/
This fun ‘Future History’ clip focuses on Plastic Water Bottles and would be a fun video to show the class the ridiculousness of plastic water bottle usage.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gFCbQ7vZxKI
Online Resources:
Back2Tap is a program that focuses primarily on eliminating plastic water bottles. Back2Tap stresses the importance of education and relates their resource information towards schools.
This site is a great source for educators researching activities or ways to eliminate bottles in the school setting.
http://www.back2tap.com/school-groups/our-program/
CalRecycle’s website provides information and materials for schools wanting to initiate a recycling program. The website details school profiles, models and strategies to start a recycling program and the importance to do so.
http://www.calrecycle.ca.gov/ReduceWaste/Schools/default.htm
New York’s Office of Recycling Outreach and Education
This website provides extensive school resources for teachers in need of recycling curriculum ideas or materials. Produced by GrowNYC, the school resources on the website include video and book information and school community projects that can be modeled.
http://www.grownyc.org/oroe
http://www.grownyc.org/recyclingchampions/resources
This Benefits of Recycling web page is a great resource for students and help understand recycling statistics, facts, and recyclable items. The site also provides supportive material for teachers conducting curriculum about the importance of recycling.
http://www.benefits-of-recycling.com/recyclingforkids.html
Online Education’s Facts About the Water Bottle:
This site provides a great visual for people of all ages to learn about the life of a water bottle and the effects it has on the environment. It highlights America’s usage of water bottles and the implications of this expensive, “lower quality” source of drinking water.
http://www.onlineeducation.net/bottled_water
Resource for “green” products and reviews:
This web page is an example from the site, “Life Goggles,” which creates reviews of items that are considered to be “green”. It also provides readers with links to articles and interviews pertaining to a green lifestyle. This web page helps informs educators about decisions they are making.
http://lifegoggles.com/1389/nalgene-plastic-water-bottles-eco-product-review/
“Down the Drain” project”
This site presents a project in which students can explore how much water they use in their homes. There are links to various resources, such as student activities and teacher guides. This is a great source for both educators and students.
http://www.ciese.org/curriculum/drainproj/
Activities, info, & sources for ground water, drinking water, etc:
This is another source for both students and educators, filled with links and resources that share drinking water and ground water information. There is information on conferences and workshops that will inform individuals about how to be more resourceful when using water from different sources, and how to better educate students on this issue. There are lessons included that are aimed toward students of all ages, or specified ages.
http://water.epa.gov/learn/kids/drinkingwater/index.cfm
http://www.epa.gov/region1/students/teacher/groundw.html
http://water.epa.gov/drink/guide/index.cfm
Local Resources:
Green schools program for Santa Cruz County
“The County of Santa Cruz Green Schools Program (GSP) furthers the education of students, teachers and staff on environmental topics including resource conservation, storm water runoff, water quality and conservation, energy conservation, recycling, and waste reduction. The goal of GPS is to support the county’s schools as they evolve into "Green Schools" that model wise resource use, eliminate waste, reduce non-point source pollution, and train students to conserve scarce resources like energy and water. The program provides both in-class and school-wide presentations, educational assemblies, and technical assistance to member schools.” (dpw.co.santa.ca.us)
http://www.dpw.co.santa-cruz.ca.us/www.santacruzcountyrecycles/Green_Schools/index.html
http://www.dpw.co.santa-cruz.ca.us/www.santacruzcountyrecycles/index.html
Santa Cruz County’s School Recycling and Waste Reduction Program
This program provides assistance when setting up a school recycling program. The provide recycling and trash bins along with informative and colorful stickers and signs. This program also gives tours of the City of Santa Cruz Resource Recovery Facility and Landfill, conducts interactive classroom presentations and also school wide assemblies. The program also provides compost bins, worm bins and accessories to local Life Lab programs. The SCCS Recyling and Waste Reduction Program connects students with the realities of their waste and provides curriculum material for teachers to engage and educate their students.
http://www.dpw.co.santa-cruz.ca.us/www.santacruzcountyrecycles/index.html
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