The Diary
The 6Rs (reduce, reuse, recycle, respect, replenish and refuse)
Wise Words
Team up with your mates and green up your street.
With over 21 million Australians, we make a lot of rubbish. We
can bury it in landfill - taking up space, burn it - releasing
toxic smoke or recycle it. If we all lived by the Six Rs - it would
make a big difference.
HOW CAN WE TEACH OTHERS ABOUT THE 6RS?
Zero Waste Week - can you and your family manage to recycle or
compost everything? Try it out.
Is your school plastic bottle free? Tell us how you have banned
the bottle and win.
Recycling one aluminum can saves enough energy to run a
television for three hours.
Every year the average Australian family produces enough rubbish
to fill a three-bedroom house.
1 154 077 bicycles sold in Australia in 2009 - that's lots of
people using pedal power.
There are fewer than 200 Siberian tigers left on the
planet. (WWF)
Ocean Shores Public School, NSW (Year
5&6)
Putting sustainable thinking into action Mrs Lengyel's students
run their classroom 'green'. They have started a recyling project
reusing all containers, paper and folders.
They also visit local growers market to learn about food miles
and fresh produce which led them to introduce composting and a
vegie garden at school.
But that's not all, this class holds regular litter free lunches
and has created posters with reminders for composting and
recycling.
They use the 6Rs every day, how about you?
Hold your own clean up Australia Day.
Start a SWAP Club. Share books, cds, clothes and games.
1. REDUCE
We need to reduce the amount of rubbish at the tip. It can be
dangerous and cause pollution. Here are a few ways to help - can
you think of more?
✷ Buy food without packaging and purchase eco-friendly
items.
✷ Get a refill rather than a new item (could save you lots of pens
in your pencil case!)
✷ Take your own water bottle, bags and containers
2. REUSE
Before you throw it out - try and repair and reuse. It's cheaper
than buying new things and fun to fix!
- Try inventing something new from old bits and bobs
- 9 plastic bags have enough embodied petroleum to drive a car
1km! Reuse or refuse them so they don't end up in the sea choking
animals
- Collection Corner - start gathering stuff at school that can be
reused for craft or science activities.
3. RECYCLE
Recycling means processing materials once they have been used to
create new items. It's more efficient than throwing things out!
FOR YOUR RECYCLE BIN
✓ Glass bottles and jars
✓ Milk and Juice cartons
✓ Steel cand and empty spray cans
✓ Paper, cardboard
✓ Marked plastic containers
(These things are more tricky - check with the olds)
✗ Food scraps (compost them)
✗ Batteries (check with parents)
✗ Nappies (unless they are biodegradable)
✗ Chemicals and paint
4&5. RESPECT AND REPLENISH
It is easy to talk about living green but if we respect our
planet we will think twice about harming it and really WALK THE
TALK. Replacing what we use so there are enough of the world's
resources for everyone to share is called replenishing. ENOUGH FOR
ALL, FOREVER!!
6. REFUSE
Stuff is everywhere - before you go and buy something ask
yourself:
❏ Do I need this?
❏ Can I borrow it, make it or save for it?
❏ Where is it made?
Everything takes energy to make and if you don't need it, save
your money and help the planet at the same time. Stuff isn't as
important as time with family and friends.
Don't become a "Stuff-A-Holic"
SPACE JUNK
Broken satellites, metal tools and rocket parts are surrounding
our planet causing damage to anything they collide and causing a
threat if they were to fall to earth.
NASA is working out how to deal with the debris. What do you
think? A trash blaster perhaps?
FOOD FUTURES
Have a look at your plate - everything you eat has an impact on
the environment.
Do you know where your food comes from? Every day matters.
Green waste and food rescue
30%-40% of the garbage that each family produces
comes from foods which are left over from meals.
Buy only what you need and compost any food scraps in the
garden. It makes excellent fertilizer for the plants.
There are wonderful organisations like Oz harvest and Foodbank
which - takes leftover food to others in need.
Check them out:
www.foodbank.com.au
www.ozharvest.org
www.foodwise.com.au
Genetically Modified Crops
With a growing population, there is more demand for crops.
Resistance to pests is important so we have learnt how to modify
the crops so that they are hardier.
The downside? We don't know yet what the long term effect of the
changes might be.
Future Farms
Our farms are getting smarter.
Farmers know that preserving the environment and keeping trees
is important for the soil. By working with the land, farms can be
more productive.
The world's poorest farmers often live in the most amazing
places and sometimes do great damage in order to grow a fast crop
or run livestock. We need to teach them how to farm in an earth
friendly way so they can make a living and look after their
land.
Organic farming: a way of farming that is in
harmony with the land and animals. Pests are controlled by:
• Crop rotation
• Using natural predators
5 problems
- Badly treated farm animals
- 'Battery hens'
- Food that travels a long distance to get to you
- Packaging waste
- Poor farming methods
- Over fishing
5 solutions
- Choose local produce
- Buy free range eggs
- Avoid packaging, buy in bulk
- Eat food that is in season
- Eat only farmed fish
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Organic: something that is produced naturally
without fertilizers or artificial pesticides
Biodegradable: material that can be decomposed by
natural agents (bacteria). Plastic bottles can take 450 years to
break down. There are different types of plastics, some break down
faster than others.
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