1. Using the Three Rs to Help the Environment
Adapted from

2. Our society creates and buys lots of products (uses energy and materials). When we no longer need these products, many get thrown away.
How can we change the way we buy and use things to better protect Earth?

3. Defining the Problem
How much does a typical person in the United States throw away?
4-5 lbs every day…
>200 million tons of waste each year
Most goes to landfills
Almost none is biodegradable
(breaks down naturally and become part of the soil)

4. What Is Not Biodegradable?
Examples: plastic, metal, glass
Items made from these materials remain in our ecosystem for a long time
On page 90 (top), list some of the things you threw away yesterday (title the page: “What I Threw Away Yesterday”)
Note what kinds of materials these items were made of
Put a “B” next to them if you think they were biodegradable
Biodegradable video

5. Reduce, Reuse, Recycle
To get the most out of things you own, use less energy and materials, and keep waste out of landfills, consider a solution known as “the three Rs”: reduce, reuse, recycle.

6. Reduce To reduce means…? …to do or use less of something
Use less energy and fewer materials, make less waste
Examples:
Get as much use as you can from what you already have
Look for products with the least amount of packaging (which just gets thrown away)

7. Reuse To reuse means…? …to use again Reuse instead of throwing away
Examples:
Pass items on or donate to charity
Freecycle
Reusable shopping bags
Reusable water bottles

8. Recycle To recycle means…?
…to use old items (or parts of them) to make new items
If you can’t use less or reuse it, try to recycle it
Examples
Recycling newspaper
Companies taking back their old products, recycling parts for new products
Recycle video

9. Making Old New Again
Products are often recycled into the same type of product
Example: used metal cans recycled into new metal cans
Companies are now using materials from one product and turning them into something completely different
Example: rubber shoe bottoms ground up and spread out under playground equipment
Example: plastic water bottles used to make fleece jackets
Prototype video

10. Two More Rs: Resist and Repair!
Resist: Do you really need it?
Buying new things uses up materials and energy and contributes to the waste problem
Repair: Can you fix it?
Repairing rather than buying uses fewer materials, less energy, and creates less waste

11. Write your summary
2-3 sentences that summarize these notes