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Household hazardous waste action projects
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Action Projects
A student stencils a storm drain with a message to keep pollutants out of local waters. |
Work with your students to take on a project to reduce household hazardous waste as a way to reinforce important concepts while benefiting the environment. Action projects bring learning out of the classroom and are perfect for leadership groups and environmental clubs.
Form a team with your students to:
- Educate others about household hazardous products
- Encourage others to use safer substitutes
- Reduce the amount of hazardous waste used at home and in the community
Project possibilities
Educate
Have students:
- Find alternatives to common products that contain hazardous substances and demonstrate them at a science fair or community event.
- Present what they've learned to other classes or schools, either in person or on video.
- Prepare a display for the school, library or city hall display case. Focus on the importance of reading labels, using safer substitutes or practicing safe disposal.
- Publish a column or write a letter to the editor of the community paper detailing what they've learned about hazardous products.
- Interview community members to find out what they think about the issue and what practices they favor. Present what they've learned in a newsletter, a video or on the school news channel.
- Teach younger students how to recognize the signal words: poison, danger, caution and warning.
Encourage
Students can:
- Create a smart-shopper channel highlighting safer substitutes for hazardous products.
- Design ads for safer substitutes.
- Sponsor classroom waste audits (for cleaning supplies) to encourage awareness and change.
- Stencil storm drains to raise awareness about protecting our water.
- Find out when the Wastemobile will be in the area and remind community members to participate.
Reduce
Encourage students to:
- Create safe cleaning kits to be used at school or at home in place of hazardous products.
- Meet with the school custodian or school district staff to encourage them to reduce the use of hazardous cleaning supplies.
- Challenge parents and family members to use less-toxic products in the home and garden.
- Develop a pledge program to reduce the use of hazardous products and identify three things to change. Involve family member and neighbors.
- Sponsor a swap sheet that lists items and phone numbers so that people can exchange cleaning or garden products or paint they no longer need.
For assistance on starting a Hazards on the Homefront Waste Action Project, contact Karen Schrantz at 206-583-0655 or karen.schrantz@triangleassociates.com.
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Action Projects
Students analyze runoff water samples for traces of hazardous products. |
The following are a few examples of actions that teachers and students have taken to increase awareness of household hazardous products in the home, at school and in the community. For more examples of successful projects as well as classroom-tested lesson plans, visit the Hazards on the Homefront Mini-Grants page.
Shorecrest High School
Barbara Steffens, Lisa Chi, Danielle DuChesne, Ninth Grade Integrated Physical Science
Students analyzed neighborhood soils and runoff quantities to determine how much of the hazardous products used in yards might be getting into Puget Sound. Students became more aware of how much waste can enter surface water and groundwater and how that affects the local environment. They wrote letters to parents and key local organizations to report their findings and suggest safer alternatives.
Kennydale Elementary
Marvice Thornton, Fourth Grade
Students created a mini-news report video on household hazards and used the video to educate others in the school and community. The project helped the information come alive for these students who are now more aware of the hazards we pose to our environment and ourselves.
Kenmore Junior High
Cathy Ferbrache-Garrand, Eighth Grade Earth Sciences
Students transformed an untended area adjacent to the school into a major learning opportunity by restoring a natural area with native plants. Students uprooted blackberries and ivy, added mulch, and prepared the area for native plants. Work continued over the summer, and in the following school year, the project became an official after-school activity with students working in the garden every Wednesday all year long.
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