Garbage
So What?
In Nature there is no such thing as waste. No other organism on the planet, except humans, produces garbage. Everything in Nature (sticks, stones, piles of leaves, dead trees, rotting logs, dead deer, wildlife scat, etc.) can be recycled back into Nature to help nourish and sustain life. “In a sustainable society, landfills will become a place to bury waste that cannot be recycled, reused, or composted.”(Chiras) Since waste is a human invention,
In what ways, if at all, do you think garbage can be a part of our lives without compromising the quality of life for future generations?
Consider this. Garbage is growing exponentially. This is because as human population grows exponentially, so does the production of stuff. As more people produce more stuff, they create more garbage-just like what happened during the mining, manufacturing and consumption of Earthsquares.
“Flowing through the lives of each of the six+ billion people alive on Earth today is a stream of stuff... This [is an] enormous flow of stuff-out of field, forest, ocean, and mine, through the factories and processing plants and transportation systems of the global economy, into a brief lifespan of use by human beings, and back out into the world as junk, sewage, poison, or waste...”(AtKisson)
If you’re going to work toward creating a more sustainable school, you’ll need to figure out to what extent your school’s practices should mimic what happens in Nature.
Chiras, Daniel (1992). Lessons From Nature: Learning to Live Sustainably on the Earth.
AtKisson, Alan (1999). Believing Cassandra.
Garbage Research Ideas
There are many ways your school may be contributing to the production of garbage. Here’s how you can find out:
(1) Research if your school has a policy about their production of waste. If it does, find out what students and school officials think about that policy. If it doesn’t, interview students and school officials to find out what kind of waste policy, if any, they would support.
(2) Research how much garbage, and what kinds are produced at your school. Figure out how it gets created-by whom, when, where, and why? How does it vary by grades, and types of activities (school lunch program, operation of offices, cleaning and maintenance)?
(3) Research how waste is being produced at your school that does not end up in garbage pails. For example, what kinds of air, water, or land pollution are being created when your school uses energy for electricity, heating, and cooling? Or, what kinds of pollution are created while maintaining the school’s grounds?
(4) Research how waste is being produced in places far away from your school, but as a result of your school’s operation. For example, if your school is heated by an oil burner research the waste produced from the mining, refining, manufacture, distribution, use, and disposal of oil and oil related products. Calculate your school’s annual contribution to that waste stream.
(5) Research the process of what happens to your school’s garbage after it leaves school. Where does it go? How does it get there? What becomes of it?
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(1) Research if your school has a policy about their production of waste. If it does, find out what students and school officials think about that policy. If it doesn’t, interview students and school officials to find out what kind of waste policy, if any, they would support.
(2) Research how much garbage, and what kinds are produced at your school. Figure out how it gets created-by whom, when, where, and why? How does it vary by grades, and types of activities (school lunch program, operation of offices, cleaning and maintenance)?
(3) Research how waste is being produced at your school that does not end up in garbage pails. For example, what kinds of air, water, or land pollution are being created when your school uses energy for electricity, heating, and cooling? Or, what kinds of pollution are created while maintaining the school’s grounds?
(4) Research how waste is being produced in places far away from your school, but as a result of your school’s operation. For example, if your school is heated by an oil burner research the waste produced from the mining, refining, manufacture, distribution, use, and disposal of oil and oil related products. Calculate your school’s annual contribution to that waste stream.
(5) Research the process of what happens to your school’s garbage after it leaves school. Where does it go? How does it get there? What becomes of it?
Back to Local Research Page Back to DIY Research Page
Continue to Exponential Growth: So What?