Rob Greenfield - Zero Waste Kids: Hands-On Projects and Activities to Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle

Hands-On Projects and Activities to

Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle

Rob Greenfield

ACTIVIST, HUMANITARIAN, ADVENTURER

The average person creates four and a half pounds (2 kg) of trash per day. When I learned this, I thought it was just crazy! But I also realized its easy for us never to think twice about it. We put our trash in the garbage can, and the garbage truck comes to pick it up. Then its out of sight, out of mind. We never see how much it adds up!

To show people what it looks like, I decided to live like the average personand wear all of my trash for a month. It added up so quickly that it only took about a week before I became known as the Trash Man... or the Trash Monster, Trashformer, or Trashtraunot!

This is just one persons trash for a month. Now imagine a year of your own trash1,600 pounds (726 kg)! You could fill up your whole bedroom. In a lifetime, you could make a whole trash mountain. And thats just you and me. Imagine how the planet feels serving as the trash suit for all of humanity!

We say we are throwing something away. But did you know there is no away? It all goes somewhere. After we put something in the garbage can, most of it goes to the landfillbut the landfill is just organized littering. Sure, were putting it all in one spot, but that spot is a big hole in the ground, where nature used to be. Even worse, a lot of our trash ends up in our oceans, rivers, lakes, and forests, where it is polluting the homes of our animal friends.

Thats why this book is here. The goal is to first reduce, then reuse, and lastly recycle. Its not a book to teach you how to recycle more because recycling uses a lot of resources (its resource intensive). In a world of zero waste, the goal isnt to recycle moreits actually to recycle less!

To live zero waste is less about a strict set of rules (like how to recycle). Instead, the focus is on building a set of skills. Through these activities and projects, you will learn and practice the skills of problem solving, resourcefulness, and critical thinking. These are absolutely necessary skills to living a near zero-waste life. There are guidelines for each activity, but these rules are meant to be broken and replaced where needed using your creativity!

This book is also here to help you foster a connection with nature. Nature is the ultimate zero-waste environment. Getting outside is one of the simplest ways to create less trash. I think these projects will also foster your desire to protect nature: when you know and you love something, you want to protect it. We can all care for nature and the animals we love by creating less garbage, using our resources wisely, and appreciating what we have. By realizing we dont need so many consumer goods, we can gain self-worth and achieve great health and happiness by finding it within us and with our friends and family.

This book is about more than just us though. The final chapter of this book will help you to get involved with making positive change in your home, your school, and your community. You can be an Eco-Warrior and an Earth Activist and stand up for our Earth.

We want these projects to be as accessible as possible: most are low to no cost. Youll also be able to do most of them without a computer or Internet (to foster a connection offline). Learning to think creatively about how to reuse and repurpose things can help you save a lot of money, too.

When we realize we want to change, it can be overwhelming. Take it from me. Ive been practicing for nearly a decade and I still make trash. You wont be perfect. Actually, the term zero waste isnt perfect either. Low waste is more realistic and what you should be striving for.

Waste is easy to see, but many of the other environmental problems were dealing with are not. Zero waste is a gateway to looking at the world through a new lens and it will help you to question everything. As you build your skills and awareness, it will carry over to every area of your life and motivate you to live in a more environmentally friendly manner.

One of the most powerful things Ive learned through my activism and adventures is that one person truly can make a difference. Now that you know that your daily actions can create a mountain of trash in your lifetime, you also know that you could choose not to make that mountain. By using simple strategies to reduce our waste, we can have fun and live happier, healthier livesall while building a healthy, sustainable world.

In a society of convenience and cheaply made goods, the art of making things ourselves and repairing things when they break has been largely lost. These are skill sets that will help you reduce your waste. Plus, theyre a lot of fun and a great outlet for creativity!

In this chapter, rather than tossing out and recycling everyday items, youll learn how you can reuse, repair, and repurpose your way into a zero-waste life. Youll learn how to make your own paper (). Find out how simple and easy it can be to make things youve only bought at the store.

Make recycled paper at home by turning paper scraps into new paper! Use your new paper for making a card or art project, note-taking, or anything else that comes to your imagination.