During National Green Week 2012, you may want to pose these questions to your students to spur additional discussions about environmental issues.1. Where does your schools trash go once picked up?
- Follow up question: How much of it is recycled?
2. What are energy vampires?
- Answer: Energy vampires are electronic devices, like televisions, computers, computer monitors, and phone chargers that when left connected to their power sources use up electricity, even when they are supposedly turned off.
- Follow up question: How much do energy vampires use when they are turned off, but still connected to their energy source?
- Answer: 75% of the total amount required to power these devices.
3. What are the different types of plastic?
- Answer: Refer to our "Plastic" PDF and gain a comprehensive understanding of plastics. Click here to view PDF . (Teachers may decide to bring in some examples).
- Follow-up question: Which type of plastic is easiest to recycle?
- Answer: #1 and #2 plastic
4. What is the Pacific Trash Island?
- Answer: Pacific Trash Island is a floating island of plastic garbage that contains over 46,000 pieces of plastic debris floating on or near the surface of every square mile in the Pacific Ocean that is equal to the state of Texas.
- Follow-up question: Why is this trash island so dangerous?
- Answer: Plastic bags and other plastic trash kill up to one million sea creatures every year. When we eat animals that have eaten trash floating in the ocean, those poisons come into our bodies.
5. What is the third largest source of landfill waste?
- Answer: Disposable diapers!
- Follow up question: Why are diapers such a problem?
- Answer: Diapers have paper and plastic, as well as body waste that makes them difficult to recycle.
6. What kind of things can be used with recycled paper?
- Answer: When you recycle your used paper, paper mills use it to make new newspaper, notebook paper, paper grocery bags, corrugated boxes, envelopes, magazines, and cartons. Recycled paper is also used to make things that you may not have thought of, such as animal bedding, compost, kitty litter, and insulation.
7. What’s good garbage?
- Answer: Organic waste is great garbage sometimes called “compost” that comes from left-over fruit peels, egg shells, and food. Compost can be made into what gardeners call “black gold” or enriched soil that is packed with nutrients for growing plants.
- Follow-up question: What happens to good garbage when it’s sent out with the rest of your trash?
- Answer: It forms methane gas which is 20 times more potent as a greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide. Methane gas formed from organic garbage that’s separated out, however, can produce energy to power trucks and energy plants.
8. What types of things can you recycle?
- Answer: You can recycle things like soda cans, plastic water bottles, cardboard boxes, and more. For a list of recycleables, click here.