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HomeMy WebLinkAboutOpen Your Eyes To Litter Vol 3 In America there are many products available to us. They are often packaged in different materials such as paper, plastic and aluminum. If the packaging is not recycled, it becomes trash. The products will eventually become trash too... if they are not reused, repaired or recycled. Did You Know? . had six-packs, If the PilgnmS . in s t'II have the plastic r g we'd s I * from them today. * The Earth Works Group, 1990. The Recycler's Haru:ihQQk. The Earth Work Press, Berkeley, CA. Where does all this trash go? Imagine how much trash we would accumulate if we didn't have places to put all the products and packaging that become trash. That is why it is important to think before you toss. CrosS out which thought is not a good idea. 2 ---,._"_.,----_.~~-------~---,."--_._._-_....."..__.,~ - ----"----~_..,-- Some trash ends up where it doesn't belong because it is littered or dumped. This can happen when people don't know the right way to get rid of their trash. It can also happen when someone drops litter by accident, doesn't think or doesn't care. ~ Ì) - 3 _ _..- _-. (0 >-.- ~ -:. ~o~ ¿;55J ~. Ы:;,c:> a . 6~~ c?-fffi~~Pþ'~~~R ~ k, ~ ....1.Ç»:-,.Vt ",", '41 p. Unscramble the words to find out where litter and trash do not belong. ~ hscolo .~ ,~~;~ j -:.: . "'.: ------ ----- Iyapruodng v~ --=--- ------- --- ---------- ---- ------- --------- 4 -- _._------_._---_._.__._-,..,~-_._---_.,._---~_.,~._------.- An accumulation of trash and litter Do you see problems with In the city, it... Decreases the va'ue of property 18 . -"b - C'ogs drains, which can cause nooding ---- £3~ LV ·~lL - ~ ~~I~\ .. ~ '~"- ~..- ~~ -= ~ ~o 5 can cause many different problems. trash and litter where you live? Ruins beautifu\ scenery ~ ::.:::::=> - #........,.::.,:....:- <1 ð d surface water ponutes ground an Makes outdoor recreation dangerous \i//-- Breeds disease-causing mosquitoes 6 ---+~----~------- Orange & banana peels Up to 2 years Nylon fabric 30 to 40 years Steel cans 50 years Polystyrene Indefinitely Aluminum cans 500 years ? l ? .,;~~~, ,..~~.,- Cigarette butts 1 to 5 years Glass bottles 1,000 years Wool sock 1 to 5 years Plastic film containers 20 to 30 years When trash is littered or dumped, it can be there for a long time. Some things last forever. The only way trash really gets cleaned up is when people clean it up. 7 Some people have jobs cleaning up litter and trash. Others volunteer to clean up litter on their own. J ~ r\~ . 0f ;,<. ^v'~... _'~ t / \ ¡/r, _ \Iff \ 11\ !í/í~ ,.:;- II. l(1 \/1/1' . .,. ~ They can even adopt areas they care about to help keep them litter free. 8 It's important for all of us to think about how much trash we're making. In fact, some things that end up in the trash don't need to be there at all. ? Did You Know. d up all the It YOU heape in the U.S. wn away t trash thro . would cover a each year, It tields with 00 soccer . h\* least 1 ,0 30 stories hl9 . piles ot waste 9 * Skidmore, Steve, 1991. What <LLo<KLQlIrasbl The Milford Press, Inc., Brookfield, CT Lots of things we throwaway can be reused. Name what is being reused in these pictures. YARD SALE TODAY.' COMMU N \ìY C ENTE R 10 And many things can be recycled. c,þ-N BEC041~ ... ... Compost to help grow new gardens Leaves, fru its and vegetables Milk jugs, laundry detergent bottles (HOPE plastic) Automobiles, appliances, cans (steel) c,þ-N BEC041~ ..- ... .~~~ ~'~'-"$t......~..~~~. ':':~~:-:..-r;.~';:'~&'"6 Q. ~ ([) o 0 . Toys Decks and Lumber Automobiles Bicycle frames ..~þ-N BEC041~. ~ Crumb rubber ~rooring .. -~ -'_'" _ 7. .._, --'-~~-:---_:-_-~"=" ~.- -'. -:-- --.':: . ~..~. Tires Soda bottles, peanut butter containers (PET plastic) 11 c,þ-N BEC041~ ... ... Running track Fiberfill ~ ~s: 6tf I, What happens to the trash we throwaway? , / ~ ~~... ~----" c::::=-~ ~~~---mIII!J!L /--------- r~ - -.::;:::::-.::::::::.. "^' r', ' '" . -----------~~--...--. ~~'-'----.....- f~~ /,:'~_ ~ -...~ ~oo oCJI('~ û.E~"\ 18 9ü::'.- :::~~----~,,-~~~=-'-,.~-._!fi. -'-----.". -r'''-___--- ,f' r ~~ ~~~ .....,r- _'" "-.r"'¡' n _L. ~ -~ ---:::----~-~ -- - -- - ~o When we put trash out for collection or in a dumpster, it is usually picked up by workers and carried away in a truck. Today most trash is buried in landfills, where it takes a long time to decompose. 12 A landfill is a large area of land that is dug out and lined with clay or plastic to prevent pollution. Heavy equipment compacts each new layer of trash, and then covers it with soil. Check out this cross section of a typical landfill. Capped area This part of the landfill is full. It has been covered over with clay and top soil and planted with vegetation. Entrance gate Office and scale Trucks are weighed as they enter. ~'" ""rn Cover material Usually soil used to bury trash or, Secondary liner Liner between primary liner and the earth Monitoring well beneath liners checks for leakage. leachate collection system collects water filtering 1hrough trash. leak detection system checks for leakage. Cover material surrounds the trash cells Trash Buried in pockets called cells. .:< ;~~ .::~~ 13 Other trash is burned at special incinerators called resource recovery facilities. Resource recovery facilities have furnaces that burn trash at a very high temperature to make steam and generate electricity. ~~ ----- ~'r' -- ---- o CJC] , ¡ ~: - -- ...-~ .,,-. ~ ~~------ ------- -,.--- --..,,-....---- ~ -, ,- '" rr----. (·',r'" q!,.J....J' ;r) '4\\",. r ,Nt --~ - ............. ~~ ....,........, -.,- ~o'oo I o 0 - - ".- '-r------. --- . - ~- Y"'"'-----., -- --~~.~_~.I __ r' Every method we now use to dispose of our trash has some limitations. For example, even landfills that close today will have to be watched and taken care of for many years to come. This makes it more important than ever to... think before we toss. 14 Scientists agree there will always be some kind of trash. The biggest challenge will be how to control it safely. ~ c:::> 0 Q €> ~ D cP1) ; o ~ ~ ð-", '0' lÞ D . ~ ~ '. œ. ~ ~ß eJ' o (jj _lJ::J o o ~ þ . . c:> çJ 0 ~ þ ~ ..Q ~ "'" ð o .~.. ~ o :'.~ C> o ~a <;;I ~.'.~~.. "" Today there is even trash in outer space! Thousands of pieces of old rockets and satellites orbit the earth. They must be carefully tracked so they do not damage new space equipment. No volunteer group can go into space and clean up this trash. It will remain a problem to be solved in the future. 15 Think Before You Toss JUMBLE COMMUN ITYDWSDORWLJAPFK N IMAG I NAT IONTYOZOVRMAD HI GHWAYSTREETFDADOPTRQ BTCAAHTELTBI LLEGALDUMP CPSTREAMEYUCXYNSOUI SEL LAOUT ERSPACEE I TASNKTRA ECRL I TTEREUSEESGJTPOMY A KS E L NCTSVUNSAFEDEAROG NABL L UCOECRECYCLEERMPR UGAEAETINBHWEROSCRKDAO PI UMANSINSUOVCMSOXI RQU NNGFECDSOEETOSPTMRNARN WGETYRHFMNRRTLONPBGI ED BURYS L I M I TAAVSSXOCLNDV D FPRODUCELERTETTSYOUUJ S I DEWALKAELASODFEGTKCL VSDREYRTRASHVBREPAI REZ Can you find the hidden words in the puzzle? adopt America beach bury careless cleanup cigarette butts community compost conserve decompose dirty farmer highway illegal dump imagination incinerator landfill litter outer space school sidewalk storm drain stream street trash unsafe volunteer woods packaging parking lot playground pollution produce recycle reduce repair reuse rodents 16 How can YOU make a difference today? What can you do at home, in school and in your community to help? Think before you toss. CLOTHING DRIVE Care about what you do with things you don't need or want anymore. ~f, 17 Buy recycled products and products that can be recycled. Read labels and look for recycling logos. REDUCE... How can we use less of something so that it will last longer? RECYCLE... Can it be made useful again and again? REUSE... Can it be repaired or used in a different way? 18 These young people are making a difference in They created a photo presentation and 1alked to their county commissioners. l McKean County, PA students realized the "woods were dirty" and wanted to do something about it. Real world lessons... They found oil and grease from parking lots, pesticides and fertilizers from lawn care products, lead and cadmium. Eighth graders in Erie, PA did storm drain testing as a science project. No ifs, ands, or butts... They found a cigarette maker that provided disposable ashtrays on request. & .þ';"~~~~:~,. Three kids in Florida were "grossed out" by cigarette butts littering the beach they adopted. Hands on recycling... 19 their worlds...VOU can make a difference too! One of them coordina1ed an illegal dump clean up and created a booklet on illegal dumping. She even became vice-president of a PA CleanWays Chapter! To help stop the pollution the students designed a billboard on better car maintenance. They also wrote a brochure on healthier ways to care for your lawn. o 0 '( ~~:~i Finally they started writing governors to ask for support of laws requiring cigarette makers to include the ashtrays with cigarettes. The first year they recycled newspapers to a farmer who shredded them for animal bedding. Next the students learned about composting and shared that knowledge with family and friends. 20 As our world becomes more crowded, the best way to conserve our natural resources is to use our imaginations and change the way we live. " Think before you toss. Open your eyes to litter. Open your mind to think and care about our environment. Working together we can help make less trash and keep tomorrow's world litter free! 21 What Happens to Your Trash After You Toss? Great Websites to Help Your Learning! www.earth911.org is a great place to start finding out what's happening in your area PA Department of Environmental Protection www.dep.state.pa.us U.S. Environmental Protection Agency www.epa.gov PA Clean Ways www.pacleanways.org GreenWorks www.greenworks.state.pa.us Landfill www.howstuffworks.com/landfill Composting www.howstuffworks.com/ composting Newspaper http://www.gp.com/ ed ucati onali n natu re/top ics/pr. html Steel www.recycle·steel.org Also see their "Publications" link Plastics www.napcor.com www.plasticsresource.com Tires/Rubber www.isri.org/industryinfo/ rubber.htm Glass www.isri.org/industryinfo/index.htm General Recycling www.isri.org/industryinfo/index.htm Re-Use Options www.constructionjunction.org www.redo.org Research the answers to these questions and find out how your community deals with its waste. o Is my community required by law to have waste pickup? o Who are the waste haulers in my community? o Does my community have a designated recycling coordinator? o What does my community collect for recycling? o Find out where the recycled items go. And where do they go from there? Plastic, glass, aluminum, steel cans, paper, corrugated cardboard, appliances, batteries, tires, Christmas trees, leaves/yard waste can be recycled. () Find out where the trash goes after it is picked up. Does it go to a landfill, an incinerator or a resource recovery/ waste-to-energy plant? o How does my community handle the items that are NOT accepted by the landfill or waste-to-energy plant? Are there any special collections? o How many years of landfill space are remaining at landfills used by my county? Then what will happen? The more you know, the better choices you can make! PA CleanWays, Inc. . 105 W. 4th Street· Greensburg, PA 15601-2981 Special Thanks To Our Sponsors www.dep.state.pa.us www.pacleanways.org Our Design Team Illustrated by Mark Jackson Mark Jackson, Stephanie LaFrankie, Design & Layout PA CleanWays Staff: Karen Fritz, Becky Izzo, Stephanie Larson and Debbie Patz Visit our website at www.pacleanways.org to order other bqoks in the Open Your Eyes To Litter series, available in English and Spanish versions. PA CleanWays is a non-profit organization whose mission is to empower people to eliminate illegal dumping and littering in Pennsylvania. For more information call (724) 836-4121 or email info@pacleanways.org. © PA CleanWays, Inc.