OF THE EPA TRIBAL WASTE JOURNAL
"Garbage \s fun because it is always
changing. You can tell a lot about
someone's behavior and lifestyle
from their trash. When people leave
bags of trash by the side of the
road, their trash tells a story."
-Laura Weber, director of solid waste
management for the St. Regis Mohawk Tribe
Microbe
Adventure
Laura Weber shares her enthusi-
asm about the science behind
waste decomposition through
stories and experiments. She tells
a story about microbes to teach
students about decomposition.
Microbes are living organisms,
and some of them break down
waste. As Ms. Weber explains
the decomposition process, she
asks her audience to identify
which statements are true and
which are false. For example,
when she says, "Garbage con-
tains microbes," the children
agree, but when she says,
"Microbes leap out of the
garbage at night," they disagree.
This interactive
format enter-
tains students
and keeps them
engaged.
Ms. Weber uses
experiments to
reinforce the decomposition
message. According to Ms.
Weber, "One of the exciting
things about trash is that there
is so much science involved in
decomposition. It is fun to
conduct experiments to show
students that different objects
degrade at different rates." At
the beginning of the school year,
teachers can place soil in an
aquarium, add water, and bury
items in the soil to simulate a
landfill. During the school
year, students can watch the
items decompose and use
their observations to draw
conclusions about how
biodegradable different
materials are.
GARBAGE MONSTERS
Teddi Bronson, recycling coordinator for the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation,
believes that environmental education should be fun. When the tribes opened a recycling depot and
transfer station, she expanded the environmental education program to promote recycling and proper
solid waste disposal.
Ms. Bronson visits the tribal Head Start facility and daycare center to familiarize children with the new
recycling and waste disposal options. She tells stories about the time when tribal members used to dump
their waste in a landfill on the reservation and explains how waste management
practices have changed over the years. Then, she distributes recycling coloring
books, nature stickers, and frisbees with the phone number and address of the
recycling depot. The presentation culminates with an illegal dumping and litter
prevention activity. The children create "garbage monsters" out of paper
shopping bags. They draw a monster's face on each bag and then use the
bags to pick up litter outside. The monsters literally eat garbage!
Ms. Bronson plans to integrate her solid waste management message into
curricula across the school system. She would also like to provide transfer
station tours to older students.
MARCH 2003
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luscious
Layered
* lawfflU
A landfill lesson is brain food for
young minds when teachers use
cookies and ice cream to symbolize
clay liners and leachate. During the
"luscious layered landfill" lesson, stu-
dents place different treats in clear,
plastic cups to learn how to build
landfills. Each treat represents a dif-
ferent landfill layer—near the bot-
tom, crushed cookies symbolize the
soil underneath the landfill, and
cookie pieces symbolize the clay
liner that absorbs leachate escaping
from the plastic liner. A fruit roll-up
represents the plastic liner, crushed
graham crackers the sand layer, and
raisins the pebble layer. Licorice
sticks, or leachate pipes, complete
the leachate containment and col-
lection system. Teachers can explain
that this system prevents waste from
contaminating water supplies.
Ice-cream and hard candies rest on
top of the raisins, symbolizing
leachate and garbage. Students then
place crushed cookies (soil) on top.
Teachers can explain that, at the
end of each day, landfill operators
cover waste with soil to minimize
problems with vermin. Finally, stu-
dents cap their tasty landfills with
whip cream. They can insert a small
candle to symbolize a methane gas
recovery system. For additional
information about this activity, visit
, or order a
free copy of The Quest for Less:
Activities and Resources for Teaching
K-6 (EPA530-R-00-008) from EPA's
RCRA/UST, Superfund and EPCRA
Hotline at 800 424-9346 or
703 412-9810.
Methane gas recovery system (candle): recovers gas
for energy from decomposing garbage
Landfill cap (whipped cream): prevents odor, insect, and
rodent problems
Soil layer (cookie pieces): used to cover daily garbage
Leachate (ice cream): natural byproduct of decomposing garbage
Garbage (candies): added daily from communities
Pebble layer (raisins): prevents liquid from seeping out
Leachate pipe (licorice stick): collects leachate
Sand layer (graham crackers): prevents liquid from seeping out
Plastic liner (fruit rollup): prevents leachate from escaping into the ground
Clay layer (cookie pieces): absorbs any leachate (or liquid)
that escapes the plastic liner
Soil layer (crushed cookies): lines the bottom of the landfill
14 HOURS WIT,
A TRASH
BAG
Thanks to Bobl
Sullivan, pn^li
involvem
coordinate.
the Oglala
Sioux Tribe,
children living
on Pine Ridge
Reservation are excitei
waste prevention. Ms. Sumvan
delivers interactive presentations
to educate 4th through 9th
graders about proper solid waste
management and involves them
in finding solutions to problems.
She shows pictures of open
dumps on the reservation,
describes the tribe's new landfill,
and asks the children to think of
creative ways to promote the
landfill and prevent illegal dump-
ing. Student suggestions have
included creating trash police,
enforcing existing litter laws in
housing projects, and developing
awards for clean communities.
After a lively discussion about
illegal dumping prevention, Ms.
Sullivan captivates the students
with a new question, "Are you
interested in learning how much
trash a single person can gener-
ate in one day?" She asks each
child to carry a trash bag for 24
hours. During the study period,
the students bring their trash
bags everywhere and collect all
of the solid waste that they pro-
duce (excluding food and liquid
wastes). The next day, the chil-
dren bring their trash bags
back to class. They
are amazed that one
person can produce
so much waste!
s. Sullivan
:oncludes the
^rtjvity with
/aste
mention
linstorming
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