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Paper or Plastic? (April 22, 2005, One)

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Program Summary

You’ve been asked that question a million times at the grocery store, but do you know what the best answer is? There isn’t one, says Ira’s guest, author of a new book that examines the role of overpackaging in environmental decline; both paper and plastic have advantages and disadvantages in recycling and the preservation of natural resources. Paper comes from a resource that can be renewed (though tree regrowth can’t keep up with the logging rate), plastic is made from oil, which can’t be replenished. Paper bags are biodegradable, but take up more than twice the space in a landfill than plastic ones; they’re also heavier and require more trucks and gasoline to haul them. Plastic bags, on the other hand, never degrade and don’t always make it into landfills, ending up caught in trees and bushes, clogging waterways, and ruining the scenery.

What’s a consumer to do? One caller suggests using cloth bags for shopping in order to reduce the demand for paper and plastic. Reuse and recycle as much as possible, and take a critical look at the way the products you buy are packaged. Pare down and spare the planet.

Guests

Daniel Imhoff, author of "Paper or Plastic: Searching for Solutions to an Overpackaged World" (Watershed Media) in Healdsburg, California

Related Links and Resources

The Environmental Literacy Council: Paper or Plastic?
Michigan Environmental Education Curriculum: Life Cycle Analysis of Paper and Plastic Bags
Danish Environmental Protection Agency: Environmental Impact of Packaging Materials
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency: Product Stewardship: Packaging

For Discussion:

• What are the pros and cons of paper vs. plastic shopping bags? What are some alternatives?
• What have other countries done to reduce the use of paper and plastic bags?
• What are the statistics for recycling of plastic, paper, and aluminum cans? Why is so little plastic reused?
• What things are currently being made from recycled materials?
• How much recyclable material does your family throw away? How much do you actually recycle?

Activities

Read it and reap. The Environmental Literacy Council is a fantastic Web site dedicated to educating children and teens about environment, how it is threatened, and ways to save it. The sitemap alone will astound you. Comprehensive, well-organized, and detailed information ranges from air, sea, and land to energy, food, and ecosystems; For Teachers is full of lesson plans, activities, links, and much, much more for students of all ages. Here’s a short guide to selected topics relevant to this show:

• Earth Day
• Paper or Plastic?
• Plastics
• Waste Management
• Waste Management: Labs and Activities

Sack the sack? Are Plastic Grocery Bags Sacking the Environment? (National Geographic) presents the debate over using paper or plastic grocery bags. Ireland has solved the problem by imposing a tax on every plastic bag used; people are switching to reusable totes. Planet Science scores a t.k.o. with a look at A Load of Old Rubbish and the Packaging Hall of Shame, which has bad packaging nominated by site visitors. Have students present examples of overpackaging and come up with simpler solutions.

Garbage, be gone.The EPA’s cartoon Recycle City is an entertaining way to explore how much a community can really do to reuse, recycle, and conserve. The Materials Recovery Center gives details about how different stuff is recycled, and the Dumptown Game asks students to convert Dumptown to Recycle City within a fixed budget. If there is a recycling center in your community, arrange a field trip and have students interview the employees.

Plastic planet. Two lesson plans from the New York Times Learning Network spotlight the plastic problems and waste woes. Plastic Pleas, a lesson plan from the New York Times Learning Network, uses the article Just One Word for the Ocean: Plastics as a basis for an examination of plastic and plastic recycling in general, In Throwing It All Away, students investigate what really happens to items that we recycle or throw away, how garbage affects the environment and our health, and how some toy companies are making their products more eco-friendly. Have students chart the number of plastic disposables they use in a two-week period and what their recycling symbols are. How much of it is reusable or recyclable?

Waste not, want not. In the future we may be able to eat not just our sandwiches, but the plastic they are wrapped in, too! Learn all about edible food wraps made from fruit puree and plastics made from oranges and other citric fruits.

Can you can-can? An unrecycled aluminum container can take up to 400 years to decompose. Cans are stars at Can Central, which celebrates the can’s impact on culture and economics and the fact that it’s cheap and easy to recycle aluminum. Several lesson plans and activities explain closed-loop recycling; All Wrapped Up focuses on overpackaging.

Visit these Science Friday Kids’ Connection pages for more resources and activities on recycling: May 7, 2004, Hour One: State of the Oceans: Plastic—Not So Fantastic, January 23, 2004, Hour Two, Part One: Green Building, January 23, 2004, Hour Two, Part Two: How Students Can Be Green

Use the search box below to perform a Google search within any of the specifc sites or general domains mentioned in this Activities section.

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