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What's In Your Trash Bag?
The following is a description of how to conduct a waste assessment at your school. Read through the following captions to get a brief picture of the process, then read the in-depth pages for a full explanation of how the assessment is executed.
If you prefer to view the in-depth pages first, here is Part 1 and the extension of the exercise, Part 2.
Find out "What's In Your Trash Bag?" and you can calculate a Waste Generation Baseline for your whole school. Use this information to measure the success of your school recycling projects....and watch the Waste Stream in your school reduce to a trickle!
Get your whole class or Environmental Club to join in as you investigate "What's In Your Trash Bag?" - the more, the merrier - and the conclusions you can draw will be more accurate with more people participating in your Waste Assessment activity. Form a Recycling Leadership Team in your class or club, so that everyone can follow your example of leadership - make recycling an Honors Activity!
Use a science-lab scale, or ask to borrow a scale from your school nurse or physical education teacher, to weigh the trash you've collected.
When you sort and weigh your trash, you are conducting a Waste Assessment, just like the recycling professionals do! Chart or graph your data, and post it in your school. Later in the school year, if you will do this activity again, you'll see a change in your school's waste that will show how You Can Make a Difference! Share this data with parents and school officials to demonstrate the importance of recycling... and to motivate more people to "Think Resource - Not Trash!"
The activities below are brought to you by MORA - the Missouri Recycling Association - with support from the Missouri Department of Natural Resources. Check in every month for more fun things you can do, at home and in school, to help recycling work better for everyone! If you have questions about recycling, or need help with your recycling project or these activities, email us at MORA. Let us know what you are doing, and how recycling is working in your school!
Recycling Education Materials provided to MORA by MERP, MidAmerica Energy & Resources Partners of St. Louis, Missouri.
Copyright MERP 2000-2001 All rights reserved.