Our school has participated in the Earth Day Challenge hosted by the Kent County Recycling and Education Center for several years. We recycle paper, have composted garbage, and work to reduce the amount of waste our lunch trays take up in the trash. This year our Early Act group is getting involved as well. We will be making posters and working to educate other students about the need for recycling and reducing our waste. Check out this link to learn more about the challenge.
This week we looked at some websites and pictures about what happens to waste when it isn't disposed of properly. Students were pretty amazed that waste from here in Lowell could easily make it into the ocean if it makes it into the Flat River or the Grand River. Right away they started talking about writing letters to begin recycling more than just paper. It will be exciting to see where these kids go with this challenge!
Following are some of the things we saw in our meeting today. A Scholastic article on ocean plastic, an article from the Huffington Post that has some pretty sobering pictures, and the website from Sea Turtle Incorporated--an organization that heals and rehabilitates sea turtles effected by trash in the ocean (among other things). Students learned that simple things like fishing line can have catastrophic effect on wildlife. They found out that it is not possible to just scoop the trash out of the ocean because it has been broken down by UV light and wave action.
In future weeks, we will be looking at what we can do to effect change. Students also expressed interest in cleaning up our own playground and the area around our school. An app called Litterati may make this job a little more fun and rewarding. Earth Day is Sunday, April 22.
This week we looked at some websites and pictures about what happens to waste when it isn't disposed of properly. Students were pretty amazed that waste from here in Lowell could easily make it into the ocean if it makes it into the Flat River or the Grand River. Right away they started talking about writing letters to begin recycling more than just paper. It will be exciting to see where these kids go with this challenge!
Following are some of the things we saw in our meeting today. A Scholastic article on ocean plastic, an article from the Huffington Post that has some pretty sobering pictures, and the website from Sea Turtle Incorporated--an organization that heals and rehabilitates sea turtles effected by trash in the ocean (among other things). Students learned that simple things like fishing line can have catastrophic effect on wildlife. They found out that it is not possible to just scoop the trash out of the ocean because it has been broken down by UV light and wave action.
In future weeks, we will be looking at what we can do to effect change. Students also expressed interest in cleaning up our own playground and the area around our school. An app called Litterati may make this job a little more fun and rewarding. Earth Day is Sunday, April 22.