Waste
Teacher Manual
Management
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Table of Contents How to Use This Manual A. Introduction 1. Waste Types 2. Importance of Waste Management
4 5 7
B. Situation in Your Community 1. Current Situation 2. Solutions
9 11
C. Potential Solutions 1. Waste Collection 2. Recycle, Reduce and Reuse 3. Compost
12 14 16
D. Summary 1. Discussion and Summary 2. Further Resources
18 19
How to Use This Manual
T
his manual is designed to be used as a training guide for teachers, community leaders and others interested in teaching their communities about waste management. Each topic has a lesson plan outline that may include the following as applicable: ®® Preparation required ®® Step by step procedure of the lesson including exercises ®® Posters ®® Key points
This manual will provide the teachers the necessary information and guidance required to conduct the waste management workshops for the community. Through the manual, various symbols are used which are explained below: Poster: A poster from the student manual is used here.
Question: An important question that the students should answer.
Marker: Information to be written on a flip chart.
Demonstration: Teacher and/or student demonstrates information.
Group Activity: Students work together on an exercise, task or game.
Key: Essential knowledge from the lesson that the students should have learned. During all lessons a flip chart (black board, poster paper) and markers should be available. Through the education committee, we encourage that the lessons are expanded and new topics added. Please feel free to pass these new additions on to us so that we can consider them for inclusion in updates of this manual. We also realize that some lessons may be more relevant than others for your community. Feel free to teach what makes most sense in your situation. We wish you great success and fun in your waste management workshops!
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Waste Management Teacher Manual
Introduction • Waste Types
A. Introduction 1. Waste Types
a. What is waste? Waste includes all objects that are no longer wanted, needed or used. Waste is also known as trash.
Preparation ;; 5 containers (e.g. bucket,
box, trash can) b. Different waste types ;; Work gloves for all Label five containers with one of these waste types: compost, reusable waste, recyclable waste, hazardous waste and waste.
Take the students, containers and work gloves to the local dump. Wearing work gloves at all times, each student has to find and deposit an example of each of the five waste containers. Examine the containers for proper sorting. Possible samples of each include: ®® Compost: Organic materials like food, vegetable, fruit, leaves, grass, wood, ect. ®® Reusable waste: Reusable items such as plastic bags, plastic containers, bottles,
glass, cork, clothes, etc.
®® Recyclable waste: Plastic bottles and containers, glass, paper, cardboard, metal,
cans, etc.
®® Hazardous waste: Batteries, paint, poison, chemicals, medicine, light bulbs, etc. ®® Waste: Items that don’t fall into one of the other categories e.g. disposable diapers or
bones
Discuss the handling of each type of waste. ®® Compost: Organic materials are put in a composting area to be turned into fertilizer. ®® Reusable waste: Reusable items are cleaned and stored until needed. ®® Recyclable waste: Recyclable items are separated from the other waste and put in
designated containers to be recycled by the industry and used for producing new products.
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Introduction • Waste Types
®® Hazardous waste: Hazardous items need to
be handled carefully and kept out of reach of children and animals. Store in a safe place or bring to a place where they collect these items.
®® Waste: May be picked up, if not take it to a
specifically planned dumping area.
®® There are five waste types: compost, reusable waste, recyclable waste, hazardous waste and waste.
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Waste Management Teacher Manual
Introduction • Importance of Waste Management
A. Introduction 2. Importance of Waste Management
a. What is waste management? Waste management is the process of collecting, sorting, recycling, disposing and implementing ways of reducing waste. b. Waste cycle Present the poster: Waste Cycle
a2: Waste cYcle
Explain the waste cycle:
1. Extract and process raw material
1. Extract and process raw materials Example: Trees are cut to obtain wood. 2. Manufacture Example: The wood is used to manufacture chairs.
2. Manufacture
6. Recycle
5. Repair and reuse
4. End of product life
4
3. Product use Waste Management Student Manual
3. Product use Example: A person buys the chair and uses it. 4. End of product life Example: The chair breaks and ends up in the dump. 5. Repair and reuse Example: The chair can be repaired and used again. 6. Recycle Example: When the chair is no longer repairable the wood is used to produce a new product, i.e. wood goes back to manufacturer to produce new products made of wood, to produce paper or use it as firewood so the cutting of additional trees is minimized. c. Why is waste a problem? This is one of the most important parts of this manual. Knowing “why” it is absolutely necessary to encourage cooperation in reducing the waste problem. Discuss the ways the industrialized society has created more waste. Today people use more “throw-away” items. In the past people did not use items such as plastic bags, plastic cups, plastic plates, which end up in the trash can after one use. They used natural items that were environmentally friendly and reusable like pottery, glass or baskets. Because they were made of natural materials they were naturally biodegradable meaning that they decomposed in a relatively short period of time. Ask the students what they think the problems of waste are.
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Introduction • Importance of Waste Management
Write down the keywords of the answers on the flip chart. Make sure the following problems are mentioned: ®® Garbage pollutes the water, soil and air. Animals and people who drink the polluted
water, grow crops on the polluted soil and breath the polluted air can become sick.
®® Eating the animals that ate the polluted crops or drank the polluted water, may make
you sick.
®® Fish swimming in the polluted water can get trapped in plastic and/or other debris and
die. They may also become toxic and eating the fish can cause serious illnesses.
®® If you run out of room to store waste, land will be filled with waste. If there is waste
laying around everywhere rodents and insects carrying diseases are attracted by the waste.
®® Due to the waste laying around, people and animals can get injured or cuts can easily
become infected.
®® It is not pleasant to look at the countryside filled with waste and therefore can keep
the tourists away. This will have a negative effect on tourism and diminish the income possibilities.
d. Decomposition time Present the poster: Decomposition Time
a2: decoMPosIng tIMe
Let the students guess what time frame belongs to which product. The answers are: ®® Aluminum cans:
Aluminum cans
200-500 years
Bananas
Disposable diapers
2-5 weeks 20 years 20-30 years 50-80 years
100 years 200-500 years 300-500 years 1 million years
Glass bottles
®® Bananas: 2-5 weeks ®® Disposable diapers:
300-500 years
®® Glass bottles:
1 million years
®® Plastic bags:
20-30 years
®® Plastic bottles:
50-80 years
®® Steel cans:
100 years
Plastic bags
®® Wood: 20 years
®® Waste can make you sick. ®® Waste harms the environment and wildlife.
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Waste Management Teacher Manual
Plastic bottles
Waste Management Student Manual
Steel cans
Wood
5
Situation in Your Community • Current Situation
B. Situation in Your Community 1. Current Situation
a. Discussion of the current situation Write the following questions on the flip chart. ®® What do you do with your waste? ®® What do you throw away? ®® When do you throw it away? ®® Where do you throw it away? ®® How much garbage do you throw away? ®® What do you reuse? ®® What do you recycle? ®® What do you compost? ®® Are you satisfied with the waste management
in your home and community?
Have the students respond. Note the answers next to the questions. Create 4 different groups, each group discusses the affect improperly handled waste can have on one of the following areas. Sample discussion points are listed below. ®® Home
Waste can contaminate your water, soil and food. Contaminated water or food can make you sick. If your children or animals eat the waste they might become sick. The increase of rodents and insects increase the exposure to diseases.
®® Community
Income from agriculture or fishing diminish due to soil and water contamination. It is not pleasant to see a lot of waste laying around everywhere. This negatively affects tourism.
®® Business
Due to contamination from the waste, agricultural crops may die or be inedible. Farmers cannot sell their crops and therefore will lose money. Fish swimming in contaminated water might die which affects the fishermen. If there is waste laying around everywhere fewer tourists are attracted which reduces business at restaurants, hotels, local stores or any other business that depend on tourists.
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Situation in Your Community • Current Situation
®® Environment
Fish in the contaminated water might die. Animals and people drinking the water and eating the fish may become sick and die. Plants and crops growing on contaminated soil are also contaminated and might die or make animals and people eating them sick.
®® The community needs to work together to create a positive change in the current waste situation.
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Situation in Your Community • Solutions
B. Situation in Your Community 2. Solutions
a. How can these problems be solved? Ask the students how they can solve the problem of waste contaminating their community and the environment. Write down the keywords on the flip chart. Make sure the following points are mentioned. ®® Educate adults and children on the problems
of waste and how to prevent them.
®® Organize waste collection if your community
does not have one.
®® Organize recycle containers where people can
bring their recyclable waste and make sure it is picked up regularly.
®® Create a composting bin for each family and
community.
®® Organize a community clean up where everybody helps to pick up the waste laying
around and to take it to an established landfill.
®® Reuse as much waste as possible. ®® Establish a local landfill if there isn’t one. ®® Create a waste committee that is responsible for organizing waste and recycle pickup,
if there isn’t one in the community.
®® Create an education committee that is responsible for the education of the community
members.
®® Waste needs to be handled properly, it should not be ignored. Everyone, young and old can help improve the situation.
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Potential Solutions • Waste Collection
C. Potential Solutions 1. Waste Collection
a. What should be done with newly created waste? Ask the students the following questions: ®® What do you do with your waste e.g. an empty
chewing gum paper? It should be thrown into a trash can if it cannot be recycled, reused or composted. If there is no trash can at the moment keep the paper until you find one.
Preparation ;; Large plastic trash bags (at least 2 per student)
;; Work gloves ;; Prize
NEVER throw it on the ground! ®® What do you do with your waste at home?
Throw waste into a trash can with a plastic bag in it, preferably an old grocery bag. When the plastic bag is full take it to the local trash pickup or dump. The bag helps to keep the container clean and therefore doesn’t attract rodents or bugs. It also makes it easier to transport the waste to the dump.
®® What should you do if there is no waste pickup or local landfill??
If there is no waste pickup or local landfill, point out that it is important that the community establishes a landfill location and procedure for transporting waste to the landfill. It could be as simple as having someone with a car or truck to pick up everyone’s waste and haul it to the landfill. The community should pay a small fee for this service to pay for at least the gas.
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Waste Management Teacher Manual
Potential Solutions • Waste Collection
b. What should be done with the waste currently laying around? Waste laying around should be picked up from the ground no matter how it got there. To re-enforce this lesson have a waste collection contest. Give each student one big plastic trash bag and work gloves and give them 30 minutes to collect as much waste as possible. Also tell them that they can get another bag if they fill up theirs. Caution them to be careful when picking up waste so they don’t cut themselves on sharp objects. Also they should wash their hands after the exercise because waste is dirty and contains many germs. The student that collects the most waste wins. Make sure the prize is something the students like or need. Be sure to mention that in order to attract tourists it is important that there is no waste laying around in the streets, fields and beaches. Besides not looking attractive, it attracts flies, rodents, etc. Note: The waste collected during this exercise will be used in the next lesson.
®® Throw waste in a trash can and not on the ground. ®® Pick up waste from the floor and ground even if it is not yours and put it in a trash can. ®® Be careful when handling waste, it could be contaminated with germs or contain sharp objects.
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Potential Solutions • Recycle, Reduce and Reuse
C. Potential Solutions 2. Recycle, Reduce and Reuse
a. What is recycling? Recycling is the reuse of the raw materials in products. That is to make something new out of the old product. Recycling involves a series of activities that includes collecting recyclable materials that would otherwise be considered waste, sorting and processing recyclables into raw materials such as fibers and then manufacturing the raw materials such as wood, paper, glass and aluminum into new products again.
Preparation ;; Waste from previous lesson
;; Work gloves ;; Prize
b. What can be recycled? Depending on the local recycling industry there are more or less products that can be recycled in your area. It is advisable that you inform yourself about the recyclable products in your area first. Present the poster: Recyclable Waste
c2: recYclaBle Waste
The poster shows some common products that can be recycled. Take one of the trash bags that your students filled in the last lesson and have the students sort out the waste (use work gloves). Have them separate recyclable waste into several piles, one for each product type.
6
Aluminum cans
Aluminum foil
Paper
Cardboard
Glass bottles
Plastic bags
Plastic bottles
Steel cans
Styrofoam
Tires
Waste Management Student Manual
Another type of waste that can be recycled are kitchen leftovers such as food scraps and peels. The recycling of these products is called compost and will be discussed in the next lesson. c. What should you do with recyclable waste? Separate the recyclable waste, use one container or plastic bag for each product type. Be sure that the waste is put into the proper container. When the containers are full take them to the designated collection area. In some areas companies are willing to pay for recyclable waste so you can improve the environment and also earn a little income. Inform yourself about companies in your area that take recyclable waste and if and how much they pay for it. Inform your students about these companies and income opportunities.
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Waste Management Teacher Manual
Potential Solutions • Recycle, Reduce and Reuse
d. Ways to produce less waste It is very important to minimize waste production. Ask the students how they could avoid producing waste. Write down the key points on the flip chart. Possible ways of producing less waste: ®® Bring your own cloth or plastic bag or basket when going shopping instead of receiving
a new plastic bag at the store.
®® Use glasses or mugs instead of disposable plastic cups. ®® Use washable plates instead of disposable plastic plates. ®® Refill cleaned bottles instead of buying new bottles or cans. ®® Buy loose items instead of packaged ones.
e. What can be reused and how? Many items that are thrown away can be reused. This not only avoids producing more waste but also saves money. Ask the students what they think can be reused and how. Write down the answers on the flip chart. ®® Items can be repaired and than reused like electrical devices, furniture or clothing. ®® Items can be used several times like plastic containers, plastic bags or bottles. ®® Items can be used for other purposes like clothes can be used as rags, plastic bottles
as a hand washing station, glass bottles as drinking glasses, etc.
®® Remove the buttons of old clothes and reuse them.
f. Project Divide the students into groups of three. The task of this project for each group is to create something new out of waste that they found either at home, on the ground, at the dump or in the waste collection contest. It can be something useful like some kind of storage container or something decorative. The group with the most innovative or resourceful idea and implementation gets a prize such as a drink, food or something they might like or need. Explain that these items could be sold and therefore generate income. Note: Make sure you deposit the collected waste properly. Have the students help you.
®® Separate waste and take recyclable waste to a recycling collection area. ®® Produce as little waste as possible. ®® Reuse as many items as possible. ®® Recycling and reusing waste can save and earn money.
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Potential Solutions • Compost
C. Potential Solutions 3. Compost
a. What can be composted? Almost all organic waste can be composted because its decomposing (break down) time is very short. Mention that meat, fish or bones should not be thrown on the compost. Name some examples of organic waste with the help of the Organic Waste Poster
Preparation ;; Compost location ;; 6 wooden poles each 1.2 m
;; 30 wooden boards 20 cm x1m
;; Nails ;; Hammer ;; Shovel Present the poster: Organic Waste
c3: organIc Waste
b. How to build a composting chamber? Prior to this exercise find an interested person who would like to have a composting chamber and get her/his permission to build one in their backyard. You may need to enlist the help of someone in the community to build the composting chamber.
Glass bottles
Tires
Fruit
Vegetables
Egg shells
Other food leftovers like corn, bread and cereal
Caffee o tee
Untreaded wood
Plants
Leaves
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Take your students to the location where the composting chamber will be built. This particular composting chamber will be 1 m high, 1 m wide and 2 m long. Build a composting chamber together with the students as follows. The materials used in this exercise are only examples of materials the composting chamber can be made of. 1. Make sure the area is appropriate for composting (it is away from the house and possible water sources). 2. Put the 6 posts into the ground (3 in a row with a distance of each 1 m). 3. Nail the boards to the poles and the box is ready to use.
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Waste Management Teacher Manual
Potential Solutions • Compost
c. Proper use of the composting chamber Once the composting chamber has been built, explain how it should be used properly: ®® In order to use it throw some organic waste like grass clippings, leaves or vegetable
matter in first.
®® On top of the organic waste put a layer of soil or other suitable cover material. ®® Repeat until the composting chamber is full. ®® Stir and flatten the content with a stick from time to time when filling up the composting
chamber.
®® Put a plastic cover over the composting chamber, but make sure that air can get into
the chamber, which helps with the decomposing process.
®® After about three months the organic waste is turned into an organic fertilizer that can
be used to help plants grow. This fertilizer is environmentally friendly and is free. The fertilizer could be sold to farmers.
®® Organic waste can be turned into a valuable fertilizer for free and should not be thrown away.
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Summary • Discussion and Summary
D. Summary 1. Discussion and Summary
a. Review This is an important lesson because the topics are introduced again and refreshed. It is important that he students realize that the purpose of these lessons is to help to keep them and their family healthy. Here is a list of possible final activities you can do with your students: ®® Create waste containers for the community. ®® Create waste containers for the community. ®® Organize a trash pickup. ®® Create a local dump. ®® Organize a community clean up. ®® Take the students to a recycling facility. ®® Take the students to a dump.
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Waste Management Teacher Manual
Summary • Further Resources
D. Summary 2. Further Resoucres
a. Where to find additional information? Explain that additional information is available in the following places. Encourage them to seek further information about the topics that interest them. Write each resource on the flip chart. ®® Pan-American Health Organization (PAHO) ®® SENA ®® Education Committee ®® Teachers ®® Aguayuda ®® Internet ®® Library
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