Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

REDUCE, REUSE, RECYCLE
Activities you can do in the classroom

Natural Cleaning Products

Outcome: to be aware of alternatives to polluting cleaning products. To know how to make products that will clean and are not bad for the environment.

Glass Cleaner:
Materials: ½ cup white vinegar, 1qt (4cups) water, a spray bottle
Directions: Mix the vinegar and the water in the spray bottle. Spray the glass with the mixture. Wipe off the dirt with a rag or newspaper.

Bathroom Cleanser:
Materials: baking soda, water
Directions: sprinkle baking soda on the sink, bathtub, or in the toilet bowl. Use a wet rag or toilet bowl brush to scour away dirt or stains. Warning: Don’t use this cleanser on things that scratch easily.

Furniture Polish:
Materials: 1oz lemon juice, 2oz cooking oil, plastic bottle
Directions: Mix the lemon juice and the olive oil in a plastic bottle. Pour a little bit on the furniture and polish with a clean, soft cloth.

Background Information: Many of the chemicals in household products can harm people, animals, and plants. They pollute the air, water, and soil when they are sprayed, go down the drain, or are thrown away. Using these natural cleaning products is a good way to keep the house clean and not harm the environment.

Pop Bottles

Outcome: to realize that things we normally throw away can be used again. Reusing as
opposed to buying is a good way to reduce our consumption

Activity 1: making a flowerpot
Materials: any size pop bottles, paint, paint brush
Directions: Cut the bottle at the height you want your flowerpot to be. Paint the outside. After the paint dries, fill it with dirt and plant a seed. Explain to the participants that this is a good way to use waste to create something new. This also reduces consumption because instead of buying a flowerpot, they made one out of an already used product.

Activity 2: tornado
Materials: two empty two-liters, duck tape or hose connector.
Directions: Fill one bottle about a third of the way with water. Connect the top of the other bottle to the top of this bottle with duck tape or a hose connector. Make sure that the water can’t leak out. Holding the half with the water spin in a circular motion for about twenty seconds, then flip over and watch what happens to the water. It should look like a tornado.

Activity 3: making music
Materials: empty 20oz, straw
Directions: fill the pop bottle about three-fourths full with water. Place the straw in the water and blow across the tip of the straw. Lift the straw and lower it, continuing to blow. This should make different pitches of sound.

Background Information: there are many uses for old pop cans. Make sure that they are cleaned out before use. Encourage the participants to think of other ways they can reuse “garbage” instead of buying more.

Draft Stopper

Outcome: to be aware of ways to save energy, even as simple as stopping a draft.
Become an energy saver!

Materials: a few large piece of cloth or old towels, yarn or twine, buttons, ribbons, lace,
bells, etc.

Directions: Twist the cloth or towel into a tube-like shape. Tie it with the yarn or twine. Then decorate it any way you like. You could make it look like an animal by using buttons for the eyes and nose. Place the draft stopper against a crack at the bottom of the door or against a windowsill.

Background Information: Stopping drafts keeps cold air out and warm air inside. This saves on the amount of energy it takes to heat a house or building. This will reduce the amount of energy lost to escaping heat.

Musical Instruments

Outcome: to be aware of the many ways we can reuse products and decrease our waste.

Tin Can Base:
Materials: #10 size tin can (or 48oz), nail, hammer, heavy string, pencil.
Directions: punch a hole in the bottom of the can with a nail (adult should do this step). Cut a length of string that goes from the floor to the middle of your thigh. Knot the end of the string. Pull the other end through the inside of the can and through the hole. Make sure the knot is big enough so that it keeps the string around the middle of a pencil. To play the instrument, place one foot on the floor and the other foot on top of the can. Pull the string straight up from the floor so that it is stretched tight with one hand. Now, pluck the string with forefinger of the other hand. Experiment with the sound by plucking on different places of the string. Try holding the string tighter or looser.

Shoe Box guitar:
Materials: shoebox, 5 rubber bands, paper towel roll, tape.
Directions: tape the cover to the shoebox and turn the box upside down. Cut a large oval hole in the bottom of the box. Cut a round hole on one side of the shoebox, just large enough to fit the paper towel roll through it. (Do not slide it too far in. It should not show through the front oval hole.) Tape the towel roll through the hole. Cut the rubber bands. Stretch each rubber band tightly over the hole in the shoebox, and tape each one down. (Leave a little space between each rubber band.) Use staples if tape doesn’t hold.

Background Information: These fun activities can be used as an alternative to watching TV or playing video games. They don’t require energy other than one’s own muscles. The materials used to make these instruments are already used products. This is a great way to have fun and reduce consumption.

Lunch bag kite

Outcome: to know that there are alternatives to buying all the newest toys and still have
fun. To know how to reuse items that otherwise would be thrown away to make
something that brings continual entertainment.

Materials: paper lunch bag, markers or crayons, stickers (optional), scissors, tape, long
piece of string, tissue paper or ribbon or lightweight fabric, hole puncher.

Directions: decorate the bag. Tape 12” strips pf tissue paper, ribbon, or lightweight fabric to the bottom of the bag. Fold down 1” of the open end of the bag at the seam (where bag is glued together). Punch a hole through the folded-over part. Put a piece of tape over the hole on the inside and outside of the bag. Punch a hole in the tape with a pencil. Tie one end of the string or yarn through the hole. Kite is now ready to fly!

Background Information: Making a kite out of a paper bag as opposed to buying one is much better for the environment. You are reusing an object instead of buying new, and it uses a lot less materials. Also, kids not only have fun flying it they also have fun making it. Make sure to talk to them about reusing while they are making the kite.

Recycled Paper

Outcome: to know how to make recycled paper. To learn the importance of recycling
and reusing as a way of reducing our consumption.

Materials: large mixing bowl, eggbeater, cup, big spoon, old newspaper, water, screen
about 3” square or bigger, flat pan a little larger than screen, starch.

Directions: Tear a half-page of newspaper into very small pieces. Put the paper in a large mixing bowl full of water. Let the paper soak for one hour. Beat the paper with an eggbeater for ten minutes. The paper should be soft and mushy. It is now called pulp. Mix 2 tablespoons of starch in 1 cup of water. Add this to the pulp. Stir well. The starch makes the paper pulp strong. Pour the pulp into a flat pan. Slide the screen under the pulp. Carefully move the pan back and forth to form an even layer of pulp on top of the screen. With two hands, lift the screen straight up (horizontally) out of the water. Place it on one half of the remaining newspaper. Fold the other half of the newspaper over the screen and press down very hard. This will squeeze some of the water out of the pulp. Carefully peel back the newspaper to uncover the pulp. Let the pulp dry overnight. When the paper is dry, carefully peel it from the screen. This process can also be done with paper bags or gift-wrap. Add lint from the clothes dryer, pieces of thread, tissue paper, or leaves for a special look. This paper can be used to make note cards, books, collages, and many other things.

Background Information: It is important for kids to know the importance of recycling paper. Recycled paper is on sale at most stores. The more paper we reuse, the fewer trees we cut down to make paper. Homemade recycled paper is also very artistic looking, and is perfect for greeting cards and such.

Solar Cooking

Outcome: to know how to use the sun’s energy as an alternative to an oven or fire. To
realize that the sun is the best energy source because it is all natural, and doesn’t
pollute.

Activity: materials and directions are on the following two pages.

Background Information: Solar power is energy provided from the sun. Solar energy is already used by some people in panels on their house. It is a very efficient way to heat a house, because it costs less and doesn’t waste fossil fuels. It is very important that youth become aware of this relatively untapped energy source, so that it can become more popular. As we use up our fossil fuels, it is very important that we find better sources of energy.